


boom, snap (the sound of my heart)

by PaladinoFandoms



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Anyways, F/M, I hope you enjoy?, In the Beginning, MY FIRST BIG ML FIC, Memes, NOTE- NATH AND CHLOE DON'T ACTUALLY REALLY END UP TOGETHER?, Slightly - Freeform, THEY HAVE BIG CRUSHES AND ALL BUT, it changes wildly from angst to fluff to some crack, just like, nudity mention, oh god the word count tripled from what i first thought it'd be, so many memes, what is this, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-10 19:52:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12919083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaladinoFandoms/pseuds/PaladinoFandoms
Summary: The road of love is dangerous. Sometimes it branches off into friendship. Sometimes it leads to theendof a friendship.   Sometimes, it starts out platonic and stays that way.Who knows? With secret identities in the mix, it can be hard to tell.





	1. Chapter 1

In the beginning of collége, if you had asked Marinette what she thought of Nathanael Kurtzberg, she would have tipped her head to one side, thinking, and replied, “I don’t really know him. He does seem nice, though.” Had you asked Nathanael the same thing about Marinette, his answer would have been similar: “I don’t know her that well. You should probably ask someone else.”

After the Evillustrator incident, that all changed. Marinette would have given you an awkward smile, a half shrug, and said, “He’s… he’s just Nathanael.” Nathanael wouldn’t have bothered to give a response at all, a red flush coating his cheeks as he looked away, and most people learned to stop asking.

Most people, he found out, didn’t include Chloé.

A few years later, however, in lycée, you would get a bright smile and a cheerful, “Nath? He’s one of my best friends!” and a “Marinette’s great. I wish I was friends with her sooner. She’s really talented.”

Though the change wasn’t sudden, it was quite baffling and a huge leap from their behavior post- Evillustrator, and had you asked, Marinette and Nathanael would have told you they didn’t know how it happened either, and they would be telling the truth.

Most people suspected they were dating. Why wouldn’t they? They spent enough time together, _alone together_ , to be considered together. While no one had seen them display any affection whatsoever towards each other above a hug or the rare cheek kiss, there still was enough evidence to claim that they were romantically involved.

They weren’t dating at all. In fact, the idea of it often sent them into peals of laughter, the thought of it like something from a fantasy novel. No, they were just friends. After all, Marinette’s crush on Adrien still bloomed after a couple of years. And, close as she was with Nathanael, they had honestly never considered dating. Partially because she suspected he had a crush on someone, a topic she decided to breach today.

 

 

Marinette glances over at Nathanael and sees that he's currently spaced out, attention drifting away from his assignment. She's not feeling much inspiration for her own homework, either, a sad sweater the only thing on her sketchpad. She halfheartedly turns it into a shirt, but it doesn't look right to her. Giving up, she flops over, leaning on Nathanael and getting his attention.

“So.”

Nathanael snaps out of his trance and glances over bemusedly, a small grin on his face.

“So,” he parrots back at her.

Marinette takes a breath before blurting out the question. It wasn't as if she had anything to hide; Nathanael already knew of her crush on Adrien. She just didn't want to pressure her friend into anything.

“Do you have a crush on anyone?”

His expression freezes, and he glances skywards for a moment before fixing her with a thoughtful stare.

“Promise you won't tell anyone, not even Alya?”

Marinette is solemn as she mimes a cross over her heart before pretending to zip her lips.

Nathanael looks pensively at her once more before sighing and muttering something she doesn't quite catch.

When Marinette prods him about it, he repeats it, but only just loud enough for her to hear it.

“ _Chloé?”_ Marinette asks, surprised, and bursts into a bout of laughter.

“Good one, Nath,” she snorts. “You should save it for poisson d’avril. Write it on a paper fish and slap it on Alya’s back. I'm sure she would get a kick out of it.”

Nathanael stares at her silently, a small frown twisting his lips.

“It wasn't a joke,” he says after a while. His voice is quiet, but the words are hard and hurt.

Marinette lets her mouth fall open in a small _oh_ as she processes the information.

“Wh- _What_? How could you… I don't understand. Just this morning, she said, ‘I've never seen an art style quite like yours. It’s… unique.”

As she talks, Marinette mimicks Chloé, up to the wrinkle of the nose as she says the last word. Her glare is disbelieving and slightly accusatory as she stared at Nathanael, who withers under the gaze.

“I get where you're coming from,” he says, trying to placate his friend.”But you've seen it yourself, and don't think you can deny it, Chloé’s really changed a lot since collége.”

Marinette nods begrudgingly, not one to lie about what was clearly true.

“But still. Nath, you know I want to support you, but think again, please. _Chloé_?”

“Mari, I've spent countless nights doing just that. Trust me on this, okay?”

Marinette presses her lips together, clearly skeptical, but gives in.

“Okay.”

The two sit in silence a bit longer, though it isn't quite awkward. Marinette goes back to her assignment, staring for a long time at the shirt on the page before growing frustrated.

She eyes it critically before huffing, slamming her pencil down on the ground next to her. She winces when the point of her pencil snaps off, but says nothing, pouting in annoyance and slight anger. Glaring at it, Marinette angrily chews on a muffin, the sweet tang of blueberries not helping her mood despite how delicious it is.

Nathanael is frowning at his own drawing, clearly not having any more luck with his assignment.

“I absolutely _hate_ artist’s block.”

Nathanael groans in agreement, scooting over to take a look at her design.

He hums thoughtfully at the picture, grabbing his pencil and begins to edit her design.

Marinette hides a snicker, not complaining about his willingness to do her work. She moves back, giving him free reign over her sketchbook, and tugs his over to take a look.

It looks the same as it had in the beginning of lunch, and Marinette’s eyes roam over the unfinished drawing on the page. The pose had been sketched out, a young woman sitting on a bar stool, a lock of hair tangled in one hand as she brushed it behind an ear. Tucked behind that sheet of paper Is the corner of a glossy photograph, the only thing visible a mint green background like that of the art classroom.

Marinette figures it’s his reference photo, but isn’t sure why it’s hidden like that. She looks back at Nathanael’s drawing, noticing that he hasn’t added clothing and wondering why. Though fashion was more of her forté, she knows Nathanael usually has no problem with this.

Sliding the sketchbook back to its original spot, she turns back to what he’s doing on her page. The shirt had transformed into a full on Victorian era gown, Nathanael sticking his tongue out in concentration as details bloomed. Lace had found its way onto the edges, the embroidery getting more and more complicated with every second. She’s surprised by the amount of detail he puts onto the dress, considering the fact that he knows even less than she does about the style.

Marinette rests her head on his shoulder with a small smirk, digging her chin down into the space between his bones. He snaps out of his zone with a small yelp and pulls away from her, fixing her with a small eye roll.

“What,” Nathanael grumps, though a small smile graces his face.

“You seem plenty interested in _my_ assignment, but what about yours?” Marinette asks, pushing him gently until he’s off of her sketchbook and back to his own.

Nathanael hums as he pulls it into his lap, angling it so that Marinette can see easily.

“It’s- it’s just a regular drawing assignment,” he explains, absentmindedly outlining his sketch. A faint flush covers his cheeks, and Marinette, noticing it, perks up.

“What’s the subject?” she presses, and Nathanael waves a hand in dismissal.

“Oh, just, you know, regular art.”

A few seconds pass before Nathanael reopens his mouth.

“I may, maybe, just slightly, have a bit of trouble with it, though,” he admits.

“Maybe I can help,” Marinette says, slightly pushy, and it is equal parts a genuine want to help and a curiosity to know more. “Got any questions?”

Nathanael eyes her for a few seconds. “Promise you won’t judge?”

Marinette nods in confirmation, and he sighs before taking another deep breath, which he releases before looking her straight in the face and asking, “How do breasts work?”

Marinette almost spits out her bite of muffin. “ _What?_ ”

She struggles to regain her composure, thumping her chest as she coughs. “Um, if you're, uh, wondering, wouldn't a teacher be better for that?”

“I knew it was a bad question,” Nathanael mutters. “I phrased it badly, too.”

Sighing, he shakes his head before fishing for the reference photo beneath his page.

Marinette suddenly realizes why he had kept it hidden, and also understands his previous question. Laughing lightly, she takes the photo from him, inspecting it. A nude lady perches on a stool, her chest angled away from them so that most of what can be seen is her back. Her head is turned towards the camera slightly, so that the profile of her face can be seen, and she is in the middle of tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, the other hand placed on the stool in support. Marinette scoffs lightly at the picture, glancing at Nathanael.

“It’s not _that_ bad,” she says, shaking her head. Still, she moves to take his pencil, sketching over what he had drawn lightly.

“So, the thing is, it’s just fat, mostly, so...”

The embarrassment is forgotten as Marinette moves the pencil across the page, teaching Nathanael how female anatomy works. The awkwardness in the air dissipates as he gets it after a while, and Marinette returns to her own page, considering the intricate dress on it. She erases some parts, making it more modern and editing the dress to her tastes until she’s satisfied with the new result. It’s good enough for her to consider handing it in tomorrow, and it’s a far cry from the half-hearted shirt she had doodled earlier. Closing her sketchbook with a pleased hum, she looks over at Nathanael, who has also finished his assignment.

A thought occurs in her head just as he closes his sketchbook, and she grins as she slides down into a lying position on her side.

“Hey Nath,” she calls, and he looks down at her.

“Draw me like one of your French girls,” she purrs, giving him a dramatic wink, and they both burst into fits of laughter.

Nathanael pauses his laughter to choke out one thoughtful sentence.

“Wait, but we’re actually French.”

Marinette blinks, sputtering, before declaring a loud “even better”, and dissolving into giggles again.

It was in such a fit that Alya found them, their fits in its last stages. The laughter dies down slowly as Marinette sobers, getting into a sitting position as she greets her friend. Alya grins down at them bemusedly, not bothering to let the kickstand down on her bike as she crosses her arms.

“Hey,” she greets. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what just happened?”

Marinette shares a look with Nathanael, and they both snicker before she shakes her head at her friend.

“Sorry, Als. Some things stay secret.” She brushes some stray croissant crumbs from her lap before squinting at her friend. “Wait, aren’t you supposed to be in class?”

Marinette gasps dramatically before jabbing a finger into her friend’s leg. “Alya, are you _cutting_? What shame. What horror!”

Alya swats at Marinette’s hand, snorting. “No, my teacher’s just out sick, and the sub never showed up, so we get a free. And since I forgot something that I need for my next class at home, I need to hurry up and go get it.”

“But,” Alya leans in closer, drawing out the word. “I have information from a trustworthy source that one certain Adrien Agreste and Chloé are walking by, talking about what they’d do for lunch. And since you guys seem to have a lot of extra food...”

Her voice trails off as she winks at Marinette, who rolls her eyes and throws a danish at her friend. To her chagrin, Alya catches it, popping it in her mouth before speeding away with a goodbye and a wave. Marinette sticks out her tongue, waving back, as Nathanael chews on a slice of quiche thoughtfully.

“I won't tell, if that's what you're thinking.”

Nathanael looks over at her, eyebrows quirked.

“I know I may not, uh… agree with your decision. But I said I wouldn't tell, so I won’t.”

Nathanael smiles softly at Marinette. “Thanks.”

Marinette smiles back, reaching out to pat her friend’s hand. She opens her mouth to reply, but is interrupted by a voice yelling out her name.

“Marinette!”

She looks up to see Adrien and Chloé standing at the street corner, the former waving happily at her. Her face morphs into shock before she quickly changes it to a genuine smile, beckoning the two over. Adrien beams in response and heads to her, leaving Chloé to follow with a disgruntled look on her face.

Adrien plops down ungracefully on the blanket with a cheerful greeting, first at Marinette then at Nathanael. Chloé trails behind him, wrinkling her nose at the crumbs sprinkled on the blanket and brushing them away before gingerly taking a seat. She doesn’t bother with a verbal greeting, deigning just to nod at the two before going back to her phone.

Marinette doesn’t miss the way Chloé’s gaze lingers half a second longer on Nathanael than it did on her, and nudges him with a small smirk. The look on his face screams that he knows, and she allows the corners of her mouth to lift up just a little more before she turns to Adrien, smoothing the smirk into a smile and asking him what he wanted from the array of food spread out around them.

Adrien seems surprised, eyebrows shooting up near his hairline. “What?”

Marinette looks at him. “You didn’t think I’d invite you to sit with me and have you watch me eat while you starve, did you?”

Adrien laughs softly. “Well, when you put it that way, I guess I’ll have one.”

But when he picks up a danish, there is hesitance in his movements, and he looks at her before taking a bite as if she needed to give him permission first. She nods, mentally shaking her head in exasperation.

_This boy_ , she thinks, and when she sees Nathanael sneak a look at her out of the corner of his eye, she knows he agrees.

“Eat as much as you want,” Marinette reassures, pushing more food towards him, and nudging the box of quiche towards Chloé. “Nath and I have eaten already.”

Adrien looks more relieved, as if he was intruding before, but Chloé still doesn’t touch any food. Her glance skips to the pastries around her every minute or so, but it isn’t until Nathanael quietly recommends her the quiche that she picks up a slice. Chloé begrudgingly thanks Marinette, admitting that the food is pretty good, and Marinette beams, pleased. Next to her, Nathanael rides off the high of a successful conversation (well, as much as it could be considered one) with Chloé, and the awkwardness in the air dissipates into a relatively cheerful and relaxed mood.

Adrien asks her how her designing is going, and Nath doodles while Chloé sneaks small glances, and the day whiles away quickly.

Marinette had just gotten into a pleasant conversation with Adrien when a notification from the Ladyblog pops up. She grumbles inwardly, though she does scan it quickly and notes the presence of a plant based akuma just two _arrondissements_ away.

Grabbing her bag, Marinette murmurs a quick goodbye, making up an excuse, and tells the others to pack up what they can’t finish. She lives in a house filled with them, after all, she says, and that they’re more than welcome to bring the leftovers home. Flashing a last smile at the group, she ignores Nathanael’s questioning glance and flees, walking away quickly before her friends could ask any questions.

 

 

Nathanael doesn't think it unusual when Marinette leaves all of a sudden, waving goodbye and blurting out a generic explanation. The small sting of disappointment hits him though it’s not the first time she’s done this, but he forgives her anyway. It’s not like her to be so rude, and so he knows whatever she’s doing is important. The fact that she didn't provide details tells him he probably shouldn't ask, and so he lets it go for what must have been the hundredth time.

It doesn't stop the part of his brain that asks him what exactly Marinette could be hiding.

He isn’t mad at her for leaving, but he also can't deny the fact that it grows significantly more awkward without her there. Adrien tries to start a conversation, and though Nathanael responds, he doesn’t really know what to say, and it dies soon after that. Chloé doesn’t help, only looking up from her phone to take another bite of quiche, and Nathanael soon goes back to doodling in his sketchbook, ignoring his actual assignment.

Nathanael tries not to take it too personally when Adrien leaves a few minutes later, knowing that there is no good reason for him to stay. It’s a faint whirring sound that makes Adrien’s head snap up as he scans the sky, and he hurriedly blurts out an excuse as he grabs his bag, stuffing a box of croissants in and apologizing for his sudden departure before running out of the park.

Chloé seems extremely uncomfortable sitting there with him now that Adrien left, and Nathanael suspects it’s the reason why she leaves. He does note, however, that she glances worriedly at her phone before giving him a brief glance. She tries to hide slipping the rest of the quiche into her bag, but Nathanael notices anyways and he smiles softly. But soon after that, he’s left alone to clean up the rest of the food, packing it away neatly in the leftover boxes and folding the blanket they had been sitting on.

Sighing softly, Nathanael gathers his things and heads back to school. There’s still a good half hour before classes resume, and he figures he had better get to work in order for him to make up for all the time he spent doing other things during lunch. He doesn’t see the newly transformed heroes behind him zipping away to battle, but even if he did, he wouldn’t have given them a second glance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we continue with the next chapter, I'd like to acknowledge drumrockstar21 and felinedragonslayer (both on tumblr) for being awesome betas! Also, kaethemonster, who absolutely SLAYED with her art, was my responder for this Big Bang, and she was awesome, so go check out her art and give it some love!!!!
> 
> Please excuse inconsistent chapter lengths. I'm bad at that.


	2. Chapter 2

Chloé doesn’t have time to regret leaving Nathanael alone at the park when a notification on her phone alerts her that the local news station has reported another akuma attack. She silently berates herself for having to rely on the news for anything, knowing full well that their reports were always delayed. She resolves instead to make up for lost time by sprinting towards the attack area, slipping quiche in her bag for later. She’s panting, not used to such physical exertion, and when she skids to a stop inside an alley close to the fight, she’s out of breath, muscles on fire.

Quickly, she opens her bag, letting Pollen fly out, and shoots a tight smile at her kwami before declaring, “Fuzz up!” and letting golden yellow light flash around her.

A thought wiggles in the back of her head, demanding her attention and she gives in, feeling a small wave of guilt wash over her for just leaving Nathanael alone without even so much as a goodbye. But she’s not Chloé anymore, she’s Ceratina, carpenter bee and she’s a hero who has a job to do.

She leaps up to the rooftops, chasing after the glimpses of red and black she can see, nearly startling Ladybug when she floats to a stop just behind her. Ladybug’s eyes are wide, and she’s grabbed her yo-yo before her eyes focus on Ceratina and she breathes a sigh of relief.

“Ceratina,” she greets, “It’s good to see you. Any thoughts on the akuma?”

She scans the scene below her, seeing a woman in a white dress, the skirt resembling the downward petals of a flower. Her skin is a light shade of green, and her hair is decorated with flowers. She could almost be pretty, if it wasn’t for the way she’s held up five feet above the air by thorny vines, vines that wrap around her legs in support and smash nearby cars into oblivion.

“Yikes,” she mutters, Pollen’s revulsion coursing through her at the misuse of normally harmless plants.

“Yikes is right,” Ladybug agrees. “No one’s quite sure what caused her to be akumatized, and thankfully I don’t think she can summon more vines, but what she already has is more than enough.”

Chloé privately agrees, seeing masses of vines tangled around buildings and crushing cars. Chloé, she knows, would have ran away immediately, but she reminds herself that she’s Ceratina, a superhero now. And superheroes don't run away. So she widens her stance, palming her trompo in one hand and grins a shaky smile at Ladybug.

“What's the plan?”

 

As far as she's concerned, her role in the battle isn't very difficult. She and Rena Rouge were supposed to be a distraction while Ladybug and Chat Noir lay a trap for the akuma, the Gardener, but as she flips out of the way of a flailing vine, she can feel the exertion take a toll on her, breathing heavy and muscles twinging in warning.

“Rena!” She screams, slinging her trompo at the vine curling towards the heroine. The top-like weapon zips through the air and knocking away a thorny vine from tangling around the vixen’s midsection.

The superheroine nods at her, and slams her flute against the ground. Copies of the heroes shimmer into existence around them, and Ceratina hears the Gardener growl in annoyance.

The trompo flies back to her hand, having ricocheted off of the vine, and she fumbles with it for a bit before she has good enough of a grip on it to reattach the string. Next to her, a thick vine flattens an illusion into orange smoke, and Ceratina hisses as she tumbles away from it. A buzz from her trompo distracts her for a second, and a thorn slices her thigh. Her suit doesn't break, thanks to Pollen, but she still feels the scrape against her skin and winces.

Grunting, Ceratina gathers her strength and hurls herself to relative safety on a rooftop. She sends a mental apology to the now lone fox before pressing the top of her trompo. The top separates into two black wings, and Ladybug’s face appears on it.

“How's it going?” The spotted heroine’s voice is crackly, and though her mask covers her eyebrows, concern is evident on her face.

“We're good,” Ceratina confirms, “but I can't afford to stay away too long. What's up?”

“The trap is ready.” Ladybug looks offscreen for a moment and her hand motions towards someone, then her eyes flick back to Ceratina. “Start pushing her back, okay? Chat’s coming to help.”

She barely has time to nod before Ladybug ends the call, and she bites back a sigh before jumping back down into the fray. She's unfortunately garnered the akuma’s attention, but soon after Chat Noir crashes on top of it. She's grateful for the help, but he had knocked her down just as Ceratina pitches her trompo at where the akuma used to be. It zips through the air towards a mirage of Rena Rouge and she winces as she waits for the orange smoke to puff up in her face. She doesn't expect for the trompo to thwack against an irritated heroine, and Rena shoots an indecipherable look at Ceratina before tossing the trompo back and leaping away to whack a vine and assist Chat Noir.

 _Chat Noir_ , Ceratina remembers, and an angry buzzing noise escapes her lips before she realizes it.

She backs up a few steps before taking off to the akuma, jumping in the air and landing a solid kick to the vines encircling her legs. Her blow forces the akuma to take a few steps back, and the Gardener teeters. She windmills her arms before crashing to the floor with an oomph.

“Let's make this quick, ladies!” Chat Noir announces cheerily, waving a beeping ring.

Together, the three beat the akuma back until they can see Ladybug’s spotted mask peering out from behind a building at the end of the block. Out of the corner of her eye, Ceratina sees Chat incline his head, a gesture that Ladybug returns.

Chat signals Ceratina with a small glance, and she nods slightly in return before taking a deep breath and stepping up bravely. “You! Gardener, I know how weak you are. Even I, by myself, could defeat you.”

She flips her ponytail over her shoulder, a move that comes to her easily from her civilian life. Next to her, Chat and Rena stalk forward, making the Gardener subconsciously move backwards.

The Gardener scoffs, but it's tinged with fear. “As if.”

Ceratina smirks, then lunges forward, releasing her trompo. The akuma instinctively leans back, and the added hit from the trompo makes her topple over into a prepared pit made by Chat’s Cataclysm. Ladybug uses a match, which must have been her Lucky Charm, to light an oiled string that circles the pit.

The Gardener howls as a curtain of fire traps her, and Ladybug slings her yo-yo through the flames. The toy-turned-weapon cracks the akumatized object, and a butterfly slowly flutters out, then streaks away towards the skies and to freedom. But Ladybug’s yo-yo is waiting for it, and it's soon purified and Paris restored.

Ceratina breathes a sigh of relief, and accepts a high five before Chat and Ladybug flee, miraculouses beeping and identities threatened. Flashing a smile at Rena Rouge and a little parting wave, she ducks into a nearby alley and detransforms. She's done as Ceratina; it's now time to be Chloé again.

 

Alya thanks her lucky stars that her suit grants her speed, knowing full well that without it she wouldn't be able to make it home to get her USB and back to school in time for her next class. She knows that without the akuma, there would be no need to rush in the first place, but she'd rather not think in the negative. Rushing into the classroom, Alya expects to be the last one, but to her surprise she knocks into Chloé as she squeezes in the door.

“Wh-what are _you_ doing late?” Alya gasps out, fingers still clutched tightly around her USB.

Chloé begins to sneer, then flattens her mouth into a small grimace. “Even someone like me has bad days.”

Alya opens her mouth to respond, but their teacher cuts them off.

“Mme. Bourgeois, Mme. Cesaire. In this class, we speak only when I allow, and then we speak English. You have broken not only both of those rules, but also have arrived late. Please take your seats before I am forced to make you visit the principal.”

Alya slinks to her seat, plopping down next to Marinette.

“ _Ugh_ ,” she whispers, digging her tablet and pen out of her bag to take notes on the now beginning presentation on English and American customs.

Marinette pats her shoulder, grinning. “Oh, how the tables have turned.”

“Shut up,” Alya groans, grimacing when the teacher glares at her.

She mopes in silence as Chloé does her presentation with another student. She wishes she wasn’t late, but she wouldn’t give up her miraculous for the world.

The chance to join Ladybug was like a dream come true, and though she got no closer to finding out Ladybug’s identity, she _did_ find that she no longer wanted to.

 _Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes_ , Alya remembers. _Or rather- magical spandex_.

But despite everything else, she didn’t see why Ladybug and Chat still didn’t know each others’ identities. Yeah, sure, she and Ceratina were relatively new, but Lady and Chat had been working together for nearly four years now. Of course she understood why the precautions were there, but why-

And then Adrien interrupts her thinking with an amused smile and a tap on her arm, flicking a glance toward the front of the room.

Great. She had to present now. Alya brushes the topic to the back of her mind, telling herself to focus.

 _Come on, girl, you got this_.

And with that, she opens her mouth to speak.

 

“Americans have many customs, some of which include holidays and festivities. One famous one is Halloween…”

Throughout her presentation, Alya can't help but notice that Marinette and Nathanael are talking, hushed whispers tickling the edge of her hearing. At one point, she even leans her head on his shoulder, and there was no mistaking the fond smile he shoots at her. The rest of the time, her head is whirling with the implications of what she had just seen. Adrien has to nudge her to get her to present her part of the project, and her voice comes out dull and slightly monotone. At the end, she gives Adrien an apologetic glance, one that he responds to by flattening his lips into a grim but hopeful smile.

Class is dismissed, and Alya pounces on the chance to confront Marinette. Grabbing her bag quickly, she slips an arm around her friend in a soft but firm hold.

“Mari,” she says, and her voice echoes in the hallway more loudly than she would like.

Unfortunately, she's started and she had promised herself she’d finish. She’s seen the many times her friend has denied any romantic relationship, and she totally believes Marinette, but...

“Are you and Nathanael dating?”

 

 

An awkward silence fills the air as the two glance at each other. Then Marinette shrugs Alya’s arm off of her, puts her hands on her hips and gapes at Nathanael.

“Why didn't you tell me we’re dating?” Marinette asks, tone chiding.

“I'm sorry,” he replies, sighing dramatically. “I thought… I thought it would harm our friendship, and that's the last thing I want.”

Alya can hear the theatrics in his voice, but it's still hard to tell if he's kidding or not.

“Um…”

She shrinks a few steps back, floundering now, reaching for something to say and save the conversation. But Marinette and Nathanael aren't listening, continuing their real-or-maybe-fake conversation.

“Oh _sweetie_ , I'm so sorry for this mix up. Could you ever forgive me?”

“For you, my _darling_ honey bun? Of course.”

“Oh, you're _such_ a doll. Thanks, babe.”

“Anytime, hon.”

The end of the conversation is punctuated with an exaggerated kiss, though Alya isn't sure if their lips ever even touch, being at an awkward angle to see clearly. What she does spot, however, are two blondes lingering near the end of the hallway, close enough to see and hear what was going on but at the wrong angle to know if the kiss was real or fake.

Adrien whispers something to Chloé under his breath, and Alya can see the look she flicks to Marinette and Nathanael before her expression turns grim and she replies in hushed tones. Adrien’s reply is combined with a thoughtful quirk of his eyebrows as he gestures to Marinette, who walks away arm in arm with Nathanael as they head to their next class.

Chloé snorts at this and walks away, Adrien scurrying after her. Alya slinks after them, eager to catch the tail end of their conversation.

“All I’m saying is that given the amount of denial they respond with when asked about their romantic relationship, the over-the-top nature of their interaction just now seems to be a joke, and nothing more.”

“Really, and how sure are you of that?”

Alya can hear Chloé’s derision from a mile away, and her eyes widen at the possible implications of this conversation.

“Fine,” Adrien replies, stopping in his tracks. Chloé stops as well, and the two face each other. “We’ll do some… experiments. Hypothesis: If Nathanael and Marinette are only friends, then they will not participate in any romantic activities because their relationship is platonic.”

“Did you see that hand holding session they had earlier in the park? Anyone with eyes could tell that wasn't platonic.”

“We don't have the full story, though. Have you ever read or watched any drama ever? Someone hears or sees something out of context and makes it into a huge deal. They, of course, are dead wrong. Love you, Chlo, but I'm not going to be that person,” Adrien counters.

“You and your science,” Chloé sighs, but she nods at him. “Very well. I’ll text you the plans for ‘experiment one’.”

She turns to leave, but Adrien grins and props a hand on his hip, smirking.

“Chlo, you didn’t think I’d just let you _leave_ , did you?” Adrien drawls. As Chloé watches, he dramatically takes a different pose, this one mysterious and conniving.

“Fifteen euros say they’re platonic.”

Chloé shoots him a dirty look.

“Models,” she sighs, playfully sticking out her tongue.

Shaking her head, she rolls her eyes but sticks out her hand anyways. “Alya’s corrupted you.”

Alya sashays out of her hiding spot, smirking at the two.

“Oh, I have,” she purrs, and grins widely when the Adrien and Chloé whip around to face her fully, eyes huge in shock.

“Alya,” Chloé snaps, hands on her hips. “What business do you have eavesdropping on us?”

“You don't know I was,” she replies. “But very well, I'll play your little game. You’re talking about my best friend and her second-to-best friend. What reason _wouldn’t_ I have?”

“Alya,”  Adrien groans warningly. “What do you want?”

“Now that,” Alya says, “is a much better question.”

She eyes the two, a slow smile spreading over her face. “What,” she hums, “could _possibly_ be worth enough to make me keep quiet about such an amazing discovery?”

Adrien mutters something under his breath. He opens his mouth to respond, but Chloé cuts him off sharply.

“Who said we had anything you’d need to keep secret?” she scowls, eyes flashing. “There is absolutely no evidence, even if you had a claim.”

Adrien sighs. “Chlo, drop it. Yes, okay Alya, you win. What do you want?”,

Alya holds his stare evenly, then turning to Chloé, not breaking her gaze until she’s satisfied.

“I want a favor," Alya says.

Chloé snorts disbelievingly, nose in the air. “That’s it? Clearly, you don’t know how to make the best of the situation.”

“I haven’t decided what I want yet,” Alya continued, ignoring Chloé’s snide comment, “but this favor is redeemable anytime and until I do, I consider you in my debt.”

Chloé harrumphs disdainfully, but it’s clear she doesn't like the situation.

“Then are we done here?”

Alya grins. “For now? Sure.”

Adrien shoots her a pleading look, and Alya almost gives in to his adorable green puppy eyes.

 _Damn_ , she thinks. _He sure knows how to use his assets._

But Alya simply smirks at him before walking away. After all, she's not exactly eager to be late for her next class as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Chloé is absentmindedly filling out her homework when her phone buzzes, and she sees a text from Adrien.

_(6:24) whats the plan??_

 

Chloé rolls her eyes, picking the phone up and texting back.

(6:24) C: I still don't see the point of having one. I think they're clearly romantic.

_(6:24) A: and ur not gonna do anything about it??_

(6:24) C:I thought breaking up relationships was my thing

_(6:24) A: it is, thats why im asking_

_(6:24) A: and dont think u can dodge my question_

 

Chloé sighs, rubbing her forehead. Adrien really did know her too well.

(6:25) C: It doesn't matter. Platonic or not, Nathanael’s not going to want anything to do with me

_(6:25) A: dont be so negative chlo_

_(6:25) A: you dont know that for sure_

(6:25) C: Okay then, why _would_ he want to date me?

 

Chloé can see the three dots at the bottom left corner of the screen appear and disappear for a while, Adrien clearly at a loss. At last, a message appears, and it's not even an answer.

 _(6:26)_ _A: chlo…_

(6:26) C: It's fine, Adrien. I'll just ignore it, and it'll go away. Don't bother doing anything for me

_(6:26) A: Thats not healthy_

_(6:26) A: Also, you dont know if its gonna work_

(6:26) C: It has before, it will now.

The three dots reappear at the bottom of the screen, but Chloé isn't in the mood to hear anything from Adrien.

(6:27) C: Good night, Adrien.

 

The dots disappear, then begin to flash again.

Scowling, Chloé silences her phone with a click and tosses it onto her bed. She doesn't remember that without it, she was blind to the threat of akuma.

 

 

Adrien huffs in frustration when he sees Chloé’s icon go offline, and he deletes the message he had been typing. Though part of him keeps whispering the word _karma_ , he hates to see his friend so hurt. Wanting to clear his head, he quickly calls Plagg to suit up.

Bounding over the Parisian rooftops certainly helps clear his emotions, but he can't shake a worried feeling that clings to him. Moments later, he sees why; a small figure stands on a distant rooftop, holding a shield and a flaming sword. They're wearing black attire, and though he's too far to see exact details, he can make out splashes of red akin to flames licking up their arms and legs.

Flicking open his baton, he quickly posts a notification to the Ladyblog. He can't remember what it was like before the team had become moderators. They had to contact everyone individually in order to alert them of an akuma, which was incredibly inefficient and time consuming.

Within a few minutes, everyone but Ceratina had arrived. Rena Rouge flicks a lock of hair out of her face, scowling slightly.

“Really? Two akuma, in _one day_? Can't Hawkmoth at least have basic human decency?”

“He manipulates the emotions of the hurt,” Ladybug pointed out dryly. “I don't think so.”

Chat snorts. “True. Where’s Tina?”

Ladybug looks pointedly at Chat Noir.

“You know that _Ceratina_ doesn't like being called that,” she stresses.

“You didn't like being called bugaboo, but you practically love that name now,” he counters, smirking at Ladybug’s embarrassed blush.

“Alright, lovebirds,” Rena interrupts. “Akuma, remember?”

Ladybug jumps at the chance to change the topic, getting back into what Chat likes to dub, her ‘hero mode’.

“Right. Chat, notice anything?”

“Her powers seem to revolve around fire,” he reports. “Suit-wise, she reminds me of a knight. From what I've seen, she can't control the fire, but spreads it pretty well with that sword of hers.”

Chat cocks his head to a side, considering the akuma. “Well, I think it’s a her. Not sure.”

Ladybug nods, grabbing her yo-yo and preparing to move before squinting at the team.

“Where _is_ Ceratina?”

There’s a pause as the three heroes think, staring blankly at each other.

Ladybug sighs, shaking her head. “It'll be fine. Maybe it’s just an off night for her. We've worked without a team member before and we can do it again. Rena, send an illusion over, will you? We’ll observe the reactions, but don't engage in a fight. Do try to keep the illusion intact, though.”

The heroine nods and taps her flute against the ground as the three hunker down, out of sight. Ceratina appears in a cloud of orange smoke and begins to jump over to the akuma.

Chat whistles in admiration as Ladybug smiles.

“Oh, _smart_ ,” she praises lowly, and Rena Rouge beams in response.

Chat watches as the fake bee hero approaches the akuma and successfully gets its attention.

“Who are _you_?” The illusion asks, and Chat is impressed by the likeliness it has in appearance, character, and tone to the real hero.

“Me?” scoffs the akuma. “Oh, I'm Inferno. And I'm here to set your world on fire.”

Inferno takes a small step forward, pointing her sword at Ceratina’s threat. “I'll conquer this world, brick by brick, and show you how bad a dragon really can be.”

She lunges, and the point of her sword cuts through the air. ‘Ceratina’, however, backflips off the edge of the roof and out of sight, where Rena ends the illusion. By the time Inferno reaches the spot where the hero supposedly ‘fell’, the illusion is long gone, leaving the akuma irritated and angry. Yelling in frustration, Inferno sweeps her sword over the top of the building and flames lick down all over it. What surprises Chat, however, is that the building doesn't burn- the fire instead solidifies into a mirage, making the building look like a medieval era house with a slightly orangey sheen.

“What?” He murmurs, eyes narrowing.

Rena Rouge huffs, ears flicking in irritation. “Illusions are _my_ thing!” She complains playfully, but Ladybug shakes her head.

“Those aren't illusions,” she whispers, pointing to the building in question. “Look at it. Even as we speak, it solidifies. This Inferno, she has magic.”

To prove her point, Ladybug pitches her yo-yo at a glass window on the house. The weapon crashes through, sending slivers of glass tumbling to the ground.

Ladybug’s point is proven, but unfortunately, it also attracts the attention of Inferno.

“Oh look,” the akuma calls, turning to face them. “The rest of the team appears. Sadly, that pesky bug won't be joining us to play.”

“We’re not here to play, Inferno,” Ladybug says apologetically. “If you want to though, I'd suggest keeping the burning to a minimum.”

She turns to face Chat and Rena. “Come on, it's time for us to go. We wouldn't want to bother Inferno now, would we?”

 _Indifference tactic._ It had been an idea devised by Ceratina, and most oftenly used when trying to find out an akuma’s motives.

Chat glances at Rena, winking at her.

“Bet you can't beat me to the Eiffel Tower,” he challenges, and out of the corner of his eye he can see Inferno’s eyes narrow.

“While that'd be amusing to watch,” the akuma says, “I'm not letting you go so easily. You should be there when I reform the world and show them what's truly right.”

Chat shoots an excited look at Ladybug. Their tactic was working, having successfully prompted the akuma to talk.

Rena Rouge arches an eyebrow at Inferno, still keeping up her indifferent façade. “And what would you consider ‘truly right’?

Inferno smirks, and Chat notices her extremely long canines. He looks to her face, and sees reptilian eyes, slitted and glowing menacingly.

 _We’re missing some important information here_ , he thinks worriedly, and he can feel the same unease rolling off his team members.

“Oh, you want to know? _Let me show you._ ”

In one swift movement, the akuma brandishes her sword at the heroes and _flies_ over the rooftops to them. It's only Chat’s quick reflexes that lets him react in time to knock Ladybug and Rena to the ground.

The akuma tuts, shaking her head. “Don't you believe that cats have nine lives? It's the _perfect_ chance to test that theory, no?”

The akuma takes off towards them and the three have no choice but to flee, bounding over the rooftops in escape. Behind them, Inferno follows them in an insultingly lazy manner, setting more buildings on fire.

But there's only so long they can run, and with a few signals from Ladybug, they split up. Inferno chooses to follow Ladybug, and so Chat Noir and Rena Rouge double back behind the akuma.

“Where on earth is Ceratina?” Rena hisses, gripping her flute tightly.

“Beats me,” Chat grumbles, and separates his baton into two. Something tells him he'll need it, and he's proved right a few minutes later.

Inferno’s sword comes down on Ladybug’s blind spot, and instinctively Chat throws a baton to intercept her hit. Upon contact, fire consumes it, and when it dissipates his weapon is gone, and a wooden stick clatters to the ground in its place. Chat recoils in shock, never having seen something quite like this.

Inferno laughs as she turns around, casually leaning on her sword.

“Oh, kitty cat,” she hums. “Your fancy walking stick didn't exist in the medieval times.”

Her last two words resound in Chat’s head, and something clicks for him.

“We gotta talk,” he whispers to Rena, and she whirls her flute around before slamming it into the ground.

Orange smoke billows everywhere while Chat, Rena, and Ladybug make their escape, and by the time the smoke clears a thousand copies of themselves have formed to taunt the akuma.

Ladybug meets them in a partially secluded alleyway, nerves high strung and alert.

“What,” she snaps, “just happened. Chat, or Rena, I honestly don't care, someone just explain this mess to me.”

Ladybug looks like she wouldn't be able to tolerate a long and detailed answer, so Chat decides to make his explanation short and simple.

“Medieval times,” he begins. “That's what Inferno’s all about. Did you see that just then, with my baton? Even with our tech and knowledge, we wouldn't be able to create whatever my baton’s made of. In medieval times? Definitely not. All they had was wood and stone, and who ever heard of a stone fighting weapon?”

He sees something click in Rena's eyes, and pushes on. “That building that LB broke? Medieval style. And what happened to both things? They were touched by her fire. I think she wants to-”

“Recreate the medieval world,” Rena butts in, and Chat nods.

Ladybug grits her teeth in understanding. “Any idea why?”

Chat shakes his head. “Nope. Only other thing that I noticed was that she's kinda got this knight theme going on, and when did knights exist?”

“Medieval era,” Ladybug answers. “Nice thinking, Chat. Any idea on the creepy teeth and eyes?”

“Dragons, maybe? She did mention the word dragon when talking with my illusion,” Rena suggests. “I don't think they existed, though, medieval or not.”

“A lot of medieval stories do talk about dragons,” Ladybug agrees. “We haven't seen any other reptilian features, though.”

“And _that_ is a conversation for later,” Chat says grimly. “Scatter!”

The three heroes dart out of the alleyway just as flames rain down over where they once stood.

In the ensuing fight, they try to go more on the offensive, but any hits that Inferno doesn't dodge is blocked by her shield. Rena's flute does get touched by the fire, but upon further inspection, the only thing that changed was the material it was made from. The design was more simplistic and wooden, but when Rena plays it, it still worked like normal and so they spent no more time dwelling on it.

The battle is at a standstill, with neither akuma nor hero able to gain the upper hand. Scowling, Chat gives a shout of “Cataclysm!” And rushes towards Inferno, hoping to catch her off guard. He almost scratches the tip of her sword, which would have been enough to destroy it, but Inferno moves at the last moment and his hand slams into her shield instead. Behind him, he hears Ladybug call for her lucky charm.

“Rena and I will buy you some time, m’lady. Just figure out what to do!”

Rena Rouge whips up some smoke as cover while they dart in at Inferno to attack, though they can't quite find her akumatized object. He hears Ladybug whisper in his ear as she passes by, and tells him to get the sword’s scabbard. A glance to Rena shows that she had heard the same message, and they form a new plan quickly. Chat sacrifices his other baton as he locks it with Inferno’s sword, and while the akuma is distracted by this ‘victory’, Rena snatches the scabbard off her hip and tosses it to Ladybug. Ladybug takes her Lucky Charm, which was a bottle of glue, and hurriedly squirts it all over the inside of the scabbard. The action, somehow, is unnoticed by Inferno, who whips around to glare at Ladybug.

“You will be punished for this,” she hissed at the hero.

A flick of her wrist whips the sword to point directly at Ladybug’s throat. She's not expecting Ladybug’s wicked grin, and definitely doesn't expect it when her sword’s scabbard is slammed down on it, effectively snuffing out the flames and keeping the sword concealed.

To Inferno’s rage, the scabbard could not be removed.

“All right,” she says, and this time it actually sounds like a real hiss. “You've pushed me too far.”

As they watch, Inferno morphs into a large dragon, one easily two to three times their size.

Rena groans, slapping her forehead. “After this is over, I'm going home and taking a nice long bath. No one call me, no matter how serious it is. If a third godforsaken akuma pops up today, drag Ceratina’s lazy butt out here, okay?”

“I agree,” Ladybug says tiredly. “No patrol tonight; we deserve a break. But as for now, we’re focusing on the akumatized object. That's going to be our objective, okay? Finding and taking the object.”

Chat nods and runs off, instinctively reaching for his baton before he forgets it was gone. What he does remember, however, is his beeping ring, only one paw print away from detransformation. He manages to jump on top of the dragon, but it takes to the air upon noticing his presence.

They're flying in the clouds when his transformation unravels, and he’s eternally grateful for the relative inflexibility of the dragon’s neck. It meant his secret was still safe, identity concealed. In his safe spot on the junction of the dragon’s shoulder and neck, Adrien begins to look for an object, and is able to locate a small shimmering necklace with a dragon pendant encircling one giant horn.

Quickly snatching it off, he waits for the dragon to inevitably circle back to Ladybug before dropping it onto the ground near her feet. From this height, it smashes upon impact, causing the akuma to fly out. Inferno, sensing the end of her powers, dives towards the ground and to safety. Once she lands, Adrien rolls to the ground and flees, rushing into a nearby alley to watch Ladybug purify the akuma. Adrien watches his spotted partner cleanse the akuma and hurriedly cast Miraculous Ladybug, ducking into a hidden alley across the street. Satisfied with the end of the battle, Adrien turns to feed a grumbling Plagg and hopes the rest of the day has no more surprises for him.

Adrien _doesn’t_ expect to find out Ladybug’s identity without her consent. To be completely honest, he doesn’t really want to find out, thinking it would be a breach of her trust to do so. But after the battle, he can’t help it if he just happens to see a red spotted hero fall into an alleyway across from his, and by the time he feeds Plagg, he sees a girl walking along that street, black hair tied into pigtails. His jaw drops, and he runs across the street, only catching her back as she opens the door to an apartment complex and enters. It’s enough, however, to see some letters etched onto her backpack in cursive. He squints, seeing a curly M, A, R… and jerks back before he can read the whole name. He can’t kid himself, though, and inside, he knows. He knows who Ladybug is, and he knows where she lives. Well, he doesn’t really _know_ her, but it still shocks him.

He supposed he could always be wrong, of course, under the slim chance that it was all a coincidence. But try as he might, he can’t shake the feeling that he’s right, that the girl he saw is Ladybug.

He walks home in a daze, unable to process anything more than the basic skills needed to make sure he doesn’t get run over by a car, and is infinitely grateful Nathalie or his dad isn't home to stop him.

 _But since when was Père ever there, to be honest?_ is what Adrien’s muddled mind can think of as he dumps his bag on his bed, letting Plagg float out of his shirt pocket. Mentally brushing the thought away, he turns to face Plagg, as well as the bigger problem that is currently taking up most of his mind.

 

Plagg smirks at Adrien, knowing about the mess that will happen. While Adrien didn’t know it, Plagg has known Ladybug’s identity since her choosing. How could he not? And so he knew that whoever Adrien suspected as Ladybug wasn’t, in fact, Ladybug. But of course, because he was sworn to silence, he can only sit and watch Adrien freak out.

His chosen takes one look at him and turns away, sitting down at his desk and burying his face in his hands. He only looks up to bang his head against the table, and then retreating back into the cover of his hands. He repeats the process to the point where even Plagg gets concerned, and he plops down on his holder’s shoulder, lightly biting him when Adrien doesn’t respond. When he doesn’t react to even _that_ Plagg is very worried. It increases when Adrien suddenly goes still, and Plagg just _knows_ his holder has come up with a crazy plan.

A bit of Plagg’s concern is lifted when Adrien looks up, hoping he’s forgotten whatever insane idea he’s thought of, but it’s quickly replaced by dread at Adrien’s next words.

“Plagg, I know what to do.”

“Kid-” Plagg begins, but Adrien cuts him off.

“Hear me out, Plagg. These are the facts: I know who Ladybug is. I also know that she is not interested in me. But, I don't know if she's interested in _Adrien_ me. So…”

Adrien pauses, and all Plagg can do is groan loudly.

“Adrien, that's not-”

“Well, what would _you_ know about human relationships?” Adrien shoots back, defensive.

“Kid. Here are _my_ facts: I'm thousands of millennia years old. I have had countless Black Cats, whether male or female. Some of my kittens have discovered, accidentally, their partner’s identity.” Plagg takes a breath, looking to Adrien. “Do you understand what I'm saying here?

“There is _quite_ the high chance that I know someone who’s been in your position before. Actually, no, I'm telling you here and now, there _has_ been someone in your position. So I, the benevolent and all knowing god that I am, am going to give you some advice.”

“Plagg-”

Plagg arches an invisible eyebrow at Adrien. “Do you want to hear my advice or not?”

“I do, I really do,” Adrien says. “But I love Ladybug, and I’d do anything to be with her. This, I feel, is the best way to do that.”

Plagg softens a bit, floating down to rest on the table in front of Adrien. “Adrien. I know, and you know, that is _not the best way_ . You know how insistent Ladybug is on keeping your identities secret. If you really form a romantic relationship with her as a civilian, you'll have to reveal yourself someday- and don't try to deny this, you _know_ you will. What do you think she’ll think when you do? She knows you know she doesn't want to pursue a relationship with you. When she realizes that knowing all this, you still did so, also taking advantage of your and her civilian form, what will she think?”

Adrien opens his mouth, but Plagg pushes on.

“Adrien, you absolutely _must not_ , repeat after me, _must not approach Ladybug in her civilian form._ ”

Plagg can see his holder start to protest.

“Plagg, I understand that you're concerned, but you don't understand _me_ . I just- Ladybug is like my life. She's so amazing, and awesome, and- Plagg, can't you _see?_ ”

“What about Marinette?” Is Plagg’s response.

Adrien visibly flinches at this.

“Now Marinette, she is a girl who you like, is amazing, and also awesome,” Plagg points out. “Why are you so insistent on Ladybug?”

Adrien sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I just-”

“Don't want to admit it,” Plagg finishes. “I get it, Adrien. Do you honestly, really, think you're the first holder of mine to be in such a situation?”

“That's why pursuing Ladybug’s civilian-” Adrien slumps over, groaning. “Identities. Right.”

“Now, I know this insistence is most likely because of Tikki, Ladybug’s kwami. And while I may not _like_ this rule we have, even I must admit it has to be followed. Why don't-” Plagg pauses, then restarts. “My first advice would be to just let it go. Don’t take any action or whatever; let things play out however they will.”

Plagg sees Adrien begin to make a face and opens his mouth to speak before his chosen can to cut him off.

“Of course, you’re not going to do that, because you can’t be trusted to just _keep your cool_.” Plagg punctuates this with an exasperated glare leveled at Adrien. “So, why don't you talk to Ladybug first, get a feel of her opinion on the topic?”

“ _Wh-what?”_ Adrien screeches. “Talk to _Ladybug_ ? About _this?_ Plagg, all knowing god that you are, I think you're crazy.”

“Not the first holder,” Plagg repeats. When he sees Adrien’s reluctance, he huffs.

“Look Adrien, being the sunshine boy that you are, you've already finished all your homework. And knowing you, you probably won't be able to get any sleep tonight. God knows- and I'm a god, so I know- that you've spent nights tossing and turning over issues far less complicated. Listen to me, Adrien.”

“Ladybug said not to bother her,” Adrien tries weakly, but Plagg won't back down.

Giving Adrien a look, he sees his chosen agree reluctantly.

Adrien takes a deep breath before holding out his ring hand hesitantly.

“You're still going to owe me cheese for this,” Plagg voices and Adrien gapes, insulted.

“But- but this was _your_ idea, what do you mean?”

“The details of our contract state that non-akuma or patrol related transformations require one wheel of cheese,” Plagg states calmly. “This is neither akuma nor patrol related.”

“Claws out,” Adrien grumbles, and the last thing Plagg sees before he's sucked into the ring is the steely look of determination on his holder’s face. Plagg can only hope that Adrien will follow through, and that everything would be resolved soon.

 

Marinette is ready to head to bed, tired after a long battle when Tikki alerts her that there's an incoming call from Chat Noir.

“Chat Noir?” Marinette frowns, wrinkling her nose. “Don't tell me it's a _third_ akuma.”

Tikki only shrugs. “Only way to find out is to answer the call.”

Sighing, Marinette stands up and stretches, yawning, before uttering the transformation phrase. She hops a few roofs over from her house before flipping open her yo-yo and answering the call.

“What's-?” She begins her greeting, before noticing his tense and nervous expression. Deciding to skip the formalities, she jumps to business. “Where are you?”

“Eiffel Tower,” Chat murmurs, green eyes distant. “Meet me there?”

“On my way,” Ladybug promises, and fights back a second yawn.

The call ends with a click, and Ladybug hurls her yo-yo at a lamppost. She doesn't know what's wrong with Chat, but she's determined to find out.

 

Upon arriving at the Eiffel Tower, she immediately feels Chat’s troubled emotions. Plopping down next to him gently, she leans against him with a small nudge.

“What's wrong, minou?” She asks. “You can talk to me, you know.”

Chat gazes at her, lips twisted in a small frown.

“Would you be okay with the fact that someone may know your identity?”

Ladybug's brows furrow as she processes the question. “You called me all the way here to answer a question we've already discussed? Could this not have waited until tomorrow?”

Chat sighs and winces. “I- sorry. I'll just go home.”

He turns to leave, and Ladybug feels a wave of guilt.

“Chat!” Her partner turns around, baton in hand. “I'm sorry. I was inconsiderate. This- it must be important, if you're coming to me late after a battle, right?”

Chat Noir sits back down gratefully. “Uh- so, about the question?”

Ladybug remains quiet, thinking, and Chat coughs awkwardly.

“Okay, how about… have you ever wondered about my, or Rena, or Ceratina’s identities? Like, have you wondered who we could be?”

“Yes,” Ladybug answers truthfully. “How could I not? The three people I see almost every day, and I know you guys pretty well, but I don't even have a name to go with the face.”

Ladybug laughs a little, shaking her head. “Hell, I don't even have a full face!”

Chat hums beside her, presumably in agreement.

“I take this as a sign that you've been thinking about this too?”

Chat’s lips twitch before he nods.

“But curiosity killed the cat,” he says dejectedly.

“And satisfaction brought him back,” Ladybug quips.

Chat Noir looks over at her, a question on his face.

“That's not an invitation to pry,” the Ladybug warns. “As curious as we may be, I hope we both understand that it's for the best and for our safety that we don't reveal ourselves. But… if it does happen, I guess what I’m trying to say is, it might not be as bad as you think. And maybe it’s not as bad as _I_ think.”

“You won’t reveal yourself, not even under special circumstances?” Chat asks, but his tone suggests he knows the answer.

Ladybug swings her feet over the ledge, shaking her head.

“Not…” Ladybug hears her partner take in a deep breath, then release it. “Not even if, say, one of us already knows the other’s identity?”

Ladybug looks at Chat, head tilted to one side. “Now, I don't know about you, Rena, or Ceratina, but I like to think I'm pretty good at hiding my identity. But…”

Ladybug takes a moment to pause and think through her answer.

“I… I think that if any of our secrets ever do come out, I should hope that I can trust that person to keep the information to themselves. And even if one person already knows my identity, I'm not going to force them to reveal theirs.”

Here, Ladybug pauses to gauge Chat’s reaction, and sees him nodding along slowly.

“I mean, and I hope you can agree, it's not about whether or not it’s _fair_ , you know? Like, if you know my identity but I don't know yours, I'd rather let you have the upper hand over me than put you in danger by learning your identity.”

“Right,” Chat echoes.

Ladybug gets the distinct feeling that he wasn't paying all one hundred percent of his attention to her, but continues anyways.

“After all… if my secret ever is revealed, I know that I trust you enough to keep it a secret. And, I know that you'd tell me if something like that ever happened, right?”

Chat stiffens ever so slightly, but nods amiably. “Of course, LB.”

Ladybug smiles at her partner, nudging him with her shoulder. “Now, as much as I love you and your company, I'm still quite tired, and I have to go to bed if I even want a chance at getting up on time for school tomorrow. Don't stay out too long, alright?”

As she straightens up into a standing position, Chat does the same, offering her a bow and a kiss on the knuckles.

“Night, m’lady.”

Ladybug giggles softly and pushes his head away gently, but the action is out of habit more than actual desire.

“Good night, chaton. Sleep tight. I'll see you around, yeah?”

With that, she swings away, not really giving a second thought to the night’s events. Tired as she may be, she had enjoyed being with Chat. She wasn't complaining about being able to go to bed, though, and falls asleep within seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was super long because of the akuma battle, but hope you enjoyed it anyway!! If you want, please leave kudos, or if you're feeling particularly generous, a comment! Constructive criticism is always accepted. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

As Plagg falls out of the ring, dazed and hungry, he's concerned by the way Adrien simply hands him his cheese without a word.

Plagg chews a bite of Camembert slowly, trying to figure out what his holder is thinking.

“So,” he begins, treading gently on this unstable topic. “What happ-”

“Enjoy your cheese, Plagg,” Adrien says softly, not looking at him. “Good night.”

Adrien refuses to meet his eyes, always purposefully aiming them away from Plagg. Adrien is right there, yet continues to isolate himself and slam down walls between them. Plagg, for one, doesn’t know why; _he_ would have shared whatever emotions troubled his mind. But even without verbal confirmation, it's clear that Ladybug had rejected the idea of sharing identities, and now Adrien was at a loss as to what he was supposed to do.

Plagg watches sadly as Adrien climbs into bed, snuggling into the covers. As he finishes his cheese, he can hear Adrien’s steady breathing, though Plagg knows Adrien hasn't fallen asleep yet. Sighing, Plagg floats over to his chosen and nestles into his hair.

As he settles down, Plagg begins to purr, weaving a soft and comforting atmosphere. Within moments, both kwami and chosen are fast asleep.

  


 

Pollen is a bee, a very busy bee. Often times, she wakes up before her holder does, and this morning was no different. Today, however, she would take advantage of that.

Zooming over to Chloé’s handbag, she snatches up her phone and turns it on. Entering Chloé’s password, she clicks on the messaging app and begins to type a message.

She normally would never think of interfering, but to see her holder spinning around in metaphorical circles pained her to watch. Once the message was sent, she floats back over to her makeshift bed and dozes off again, waiting for her chosen to wake up.

 

Pollen is woken up by an angry cry, and opens her eyes to see Chloé glaring angrily at her phone.

“Why did Adrien send me messages? ‘ _I'm glad you came to me for help’?”_

“I believe you can be a better person, Chlo, but change starts small. Start with less snide comments, less hostility, more openness to others and their ideas. No criticizing others in their mistakes, but instead try to build them up. You can work up to being kind and friendly afterwards,” she reads.

Pollen waits in silence as Chloé does something on her phone. She sees the moment that Chloé discovers her message and braces for the explosion she was sure would occur.

“Who sent Adrien a message? I don't want his help,” she seethes. “Oh, when I find out who did this-”

“It was me,” Pollen interjects calmly.

Chloé goes wide-eyed, surprised that her kwami would so readily admit to such an act.

“You- but- _what_?” She splutters, shocked.

Pollen takes a deep breath, floating up to face her holder.

“It's time you changed, Chloé. I've been your kwami for what, two years now? I know you better than most people do, and I know deep inside you want to change too. As mean as this may seem, trust me when I say that in everything I do I am trying to help you.”

Chloé squints at Pollen, huffing. “And so what if I change? No one’s _ever_ going to believe I've genuinely decided to be better.”

“Who’s fault is that?” Pollen says bluntly.

She winces as a wave of hurt flashes over Chloe’s face, drifting over to rest on her chosen’s shoulder.

“I'm sorry, that was mean of me. What I mean is that if you don't change now, it'll only be harder for you to change later.”

Chloé jerks away from her kwami, expression petulant. “And who said I wanted to change?”

Pollen simply sighs, leveling a look at her holder. Chloé raises an eyebrow in response, plopping down on her bed.

“What about Nathanael?” Pollen asks, and she knows she's hit a nerve when Chloé’s expression tightens.

When Chloé doesn't say anything, Pollen pushes on. “During the time I've been with you, you've had quite the variety of crushes. I know how you react, and if you love Nathanael as much as you claim you do, you won't want to just move on and let him go.”

Chloé wrinkles her nose and pretends to ignore the kwami, who perches on top of her holder’s knee.

“Do I have to go into examples?” The kwami asks. Chloé still refuses to respond, so Pollen continues.

“Fine,” she says. “Let’s see, the journalist, right? Alya?”

Chloé tenses, but still stays silent.

“Okay, we also have… yes, our favorite superheroine, Ladybug.”

Chloé purses her lips at this, and Pollen huffs.

“Yes, fine, that was _‘hero worship’_. But don't think you could use that excuse with Marin-”

Chloé whips around at that name, expression a mix of anger and pain.

“Don't mention her.”

Pollen nods in acquiescence.

“Fair enough,” the kwami says. “You've had your fair share of pining for all of them, and even managed to ask Mar- one of them out. You have gotten over them, but if you had been different, do you think she would have at least given you a chance?”

Chloé stays silent for a few more seconds, mulling it over before nodding sullenly.

“Now, you've gotten over all of them, except for Nathanael. Do you really want him to reject you- or for you to reject yourself- just because of something that could be changed?”

“No,” Chloé mumbles.

“So, do you see why you’d want to change?”

“I… guess. Sure.”

“And are you willing to change?”

Chloé raises her eyes skyward, grimacing a little and taking a deep breath before answering.

“Yes.”

“That's my Tina.”

Pollen smiles gently and gives Chloé a pat.

“I'll be with you every step of the way,” she promises.

Chloé grumbles at the nickname but brings Pollen in for a cuddle. The two hug as well as they could for approximately five seconds, until Chloé jumps up with a curse.

“Shit, I'm late for school!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suuuuuper super short chapter, but that's okay, right?


	5. Chapter 5

Adrien has just gotten over the revelation of Ladybug’s identity when he feels a new emotion wiggling into his head. To his absolute dismay, it's guilt.

It’s during Math that the first wave comes, bringing along with it a strange stinging in his eyes. He squashes it down with calculus, distracting himself with variables and exponents. By the time he’s done with that class, his guilt is tucked away in a dim corner of his mind, nearly forgotten.

But then someone mentions the word secret and everything comes crashing down back onto him. An itch that he can’t quite escape kindles under his skin, making him antsy and nervous. What feels like a stone weighs him down right where is stomach is, salty bile rising up in the back of his throat.

His discomfort must be clear on his face, because Nino turns to him with a questioning look on his face.

“Dude, you okay?”

“Fine,” Adrien croaks out. “Calculus is just… difficult.”

It's a horrible lie, and both he and Nino know it. But his friend lets the matter drop, and the two separate as they walk to their next classes.

He spends the day fighting the waves of shame that periodically wash over him, finally snapping when he gets home. He's at his bursting point, ready to cry but not willing to do so, wanting to punch something but unable to do so. Slamming his hands down on his desk relieves some of the tension, but writhing energy makes him uneasy. Desperate for some form of release, he utters his transformation sequence without a look at his kwami.

Even now he feels an inkling of regret for treating Plagg like this, but he needs someone to talk to, and he needs to do it now.

He clearly can't talk to Ladybug- well, at least, not yet- for obvious reasons, which leaves Ceratina and Rena. A flick of his baton shows that Rena is active, strangely, but it's a chance to talk and so he taps her icon and hits call.

“Rena?”

From what he can see, the superheroine is perched on top of what looks like Notre Dame.

“Chat! What's up?”

“Hey, do you have time to, uh, talk for a bit?” He asks, ears flicking.

“Talk? To me?” The heroine sounds surprised, but quickly recovers. “I mean, sure! I'm at Notre Dame, meet me there?”

Chat flashes her a smile before ending the call and extending his baton. He already feels better by having someone to talk to. And hopefully, by the end of the talk, he won’t feel sort of guilt at all.

 

“Rena,” Chat greets. “Thanks for letting me talk to you.”

“Yeah about that.” Rena’s tail flicks, and she cocks her head to one side. “Why come to me? Ladybug gives the best advice, and hell, even Ceratina’s better than me at this advice thing. Is this directly related to me?”

“No, not really. You see,” Chat begins, and he has to take a few deep breaths before he can continue.

“I, uh, may or may not have discovered Ladybug’s identity?”

Rena immediately slams her hands over her ears.

“Don’t tell me,” she warns.

“Wasn’t planning to,” Chat reassures, and Rena hesitantly lowers her hands.

“Still, why come to me? Wouldn’t Ladybug be a better person to talk to? After all, it’s _her_ identity you discovered, not mine.”

“I already talked to her,” Chat confesses. “I didn’t tell her explicitly that I knew who she was, it was more of a… hypothetical situation. And she, um-”

“I get it,” Rena cuts in. “Okay. Uh, let’s start from the beginning. What happened?”

“It was after Inferno,” Chat says. “I dropped into an alleyway to feed my kwami, and before that saw Ladybug fall into another alley across the street. When I'd finished, I turned to leave, and I saw a girl walking on the sidewalk right outside of that alley.”

Rena’s face lights up in understanding. “And you’re absolutely sure it’s Ladybug? You saw her detransforming or something?”

Chat frowns, ears flicking. “Well, no-“

“Well, if you don’t know who she is exactly I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this. For now, just assume you’re wrong and keep on going with life.”

“Come on, Rena, help me out here,” he pleads.

Rena rolls her eyes, but agrees. “Do you know exactly who that girl is? Or just a face?”

“A name,” he replies. “It was written on the back of her backpack. And where she lives.”

“Okay. So now I have a better understanding of what happened, but what's your problem? You think Hawkmoth will find out or something?” She asks.

“Guilt,” Chat sighs. “LB said that if someone found out, she'd- well, she didn't say how she'd react, but she said she would want them to tell her.”

“I mean, that's fair,” Rena points out. “If someone found out who I was, I'd want them to tell me too.”

“But I can't! If I tell her that I found out, I'd break her trust. And identities are the one thing that from the beginning, she's insisted on as a no. This- this would go pretty deep. And I don't want anything to happen to what we have. To us.”

Chat feels Rena give him a pat on the shoulder, sees her stand up and offer him her hand. “Come on, Chat. I got something to show you.”

Chat accepts the hand and pulls himself up, unclipping his baton. Rena leads him to a fairly quiet area, and the two heroes touch down on a regular old rooftop. Except it's not, and as Chat looks around the details come back to him.

“My first akuma battle,” Rena starts. “I was so new, so eager to impress Ladybug-”

“What about me?” Chat interjects in a weak attempt at a joke. “Didn't care about impressing this old alley cat?”

Rena laughs. “Maybe, maybe not. But.”

She takes a seat on the roof, prompting Chat to do the same, and resumes her story.

“I was so eager to show Ladybug- and you, I suppose- that I deserved to be a hero, deserved my miraculous, etcetera. You get the point. But I didn't think things through. I cracked the akumatized object before Ladybug had a chance to call Miraculous Ladybug and restore her yo-yo, and by the time she did the butterfly was gone.”

“I remember,” Chat voiced, eyes distant in memory.

He refocuses as he glances questioningly at Rena. “But what's the point? It was a simple mistake, one that Ladybug made when she first started, with Stoneheart. And she forgave you for it, because she knew it was an accident.”

Rena hums in agreement. “Exactly. Then, it felt like the world to me because I thought you guys would hate me. And I beat myself up over it because I've watched you guys from the start. Back then, before I got this necklace, I didn't know the cause behind the multiple Stonehearts. But after I learned the reason why, I kept on thinking that I should have known, that I should have been more careful.”

Rena shakes her head as if to clear it out. “But anyways. My point is- you and I, and Ladybug as well, knew how much that mistake cost us. And she still forgave me, even though it was a major rule- don't release the akuma until you know Ladybug is ready to catch it. Same here with you- you know it was an accident. I don't think she'll punish you for it. And if she does…”

Rena looks Chat straight in the eye. “I admire Ladybug. I look up to her, you know that. But given the circumstances, if you want me to, I can and I will talk to her if she decides for any reason to punish you or something. Maybe I'm biased, maybe I'm not, but it seems unfair. I- I guess I'm trying to say, I've got your back, Chat. I may not be as good of a partner as Ladybug is, but we’re a team, you know? You can trust me.”

Chat smiles gratefully at the vixen hero. “Thanks, Rena. I- I needed that.”

And he’s telling the truth- getting the whole story out to someone was cathartic in a weird way, and receiving advice (though he might not like it) and support was something he was thankful for.

Rena gets up and stretches, lifting her hands above her head. “Well, gotta go. I’ve procrastinated enough on my homework. Feel better, Chat. I’m here to talk if you need it, okay?”

Chat sits on the rooftop for a few more minutes after Rena bounds away, letting the crisp air wash over him.

The extra cheese he owes Plagg for this trip, he thinks, is worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yet again, I fail to give you guys a longer chapter. But the next one will be longer because of one certain evil purple butterfly, so there's that. As always, kudos and comments are cherished and loved!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This, again, is going to be a short chapter; sorry about that to all my dear readers.

Marinette doesn't expect for the topic of Chloé to be brought up again, but she's proven wrong that day at lunch when Nathanael expresses his concern at Chloe's absence that morning.

It is a normal afternoon, quiet chatter drifting through the air. A small breeze danced around, though it is still bright and sunny. It’s peaceful, a calm and lovely atmosphere blanketing over them, but then Nathanael breaks through it.

“Why wasn't she at school though?” He asks, brow furrowed. “Yesterday she seemed to be doing fine. I hope she's not sick or anything.”

“Still fixated on her, I see,” Marinette comments offhandedly. She's not really paying attention to her words, doodling aimlessly in her notebook.

“Says the one who's had a crush on one guy for what, four years now?” Nathanael retorts, slightly hurt.

Marinette hums in vague agreement. She rolls over to look at Nathanael, expression serious.

“I- I know I said I'd support you, and I still do, but just… rethink the whole ‘crush on Chloé’ thing, would you?” She asks, looking a mixture of concerned and worried.

“What would  _ you  _ know about something like that?” Nathanael's reply is bitter, and Marinette can't blame him for feeling that way.

She sighs, picking at blades of grass on the ground. She's reluctant to share the story that she had in mind, but she knew it was the only one that could possibly reach through to him.

Sighing, she sets down a frayed blade of grass and looks at Nathanael. “I've never told anyone this, something happened between me and Chloé. It was two years ago, in the last year of collége….”

  
  


Chloé paces nervously outside of the park, hesitant to approach Nathanael. She feels Pollen sending her good vibes, but she still remembers what happened that time with Marinette. She tries to stop her train of thought, but before long she slips back into a certain memory.

 

_ Chloé marched over to Marinette's desk, placing her hand down with an audible  _ thump _. _

_ “A word, Dupain-Cheng.” _

_ She didn't miss the glance Marinette exchanged with Alya. They communicated silently for an awkward minute before Marinette stood up. _

_ “I don't want you to be late for your class, Alya. I'll see you in English, okay?” _

_ Alya was visibly torn over this, but nodded and left with a final parting glance. _

_ All the other students filed out, not eager to get into Chloé’s way. _

_ Chloé took a deep breath before gathering her courage. She knew there was no other way to get around it, so she just blurted it out. _

_ “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, go out with me.” _

_ Marinette blinked, surprised. “Excuse me?” _

_ “Do you need me to repeat it?” She snapped, placing a hand on her hip. “Dupain-Cheng, I'm asking you out on a date.” _

_ Marinette pressed her lips in a thin line. “Chloé, listen, I'm flattered, but-” _

_ Chloé closed her eyes, accepting the rejection. “It's fine. I- I was stupid to think that you’d…” _

_ Inhaling, she tried for an intimidating glare. “I’d hate to see what would happen if you told anyone about this, though. So if I were you…” _

_ She didn't make it very far before she heard Marinette growl in frustration and slam a hand down on the table. _

_ “This is  _ exactly  _ what I mean, Chloé. It's not that you're… unattractive or anything, but your attitude? And your behavior to other people, it's-” Marinette narrowed her eyes at Chloé. “Okay, I'll just say it. You're a bully, Chloé. And I am not willing to go out with anyone who treats others that way. So, I'm sorry, but my final answer is no.” _

_ The girl shot her a sympathetic look before picking up her backpack and leaving the room. _

_ Chloé slumped into a chair, angrily fighting back tears. _

 

When Chloé slips out of her memory, a tear traces down her face. She wipes it away, quickly pulling out a hand mirror and checking her makeup. After touching it up and making sure she looked fine, she takes a deep breath and enters the park.

She quickly spots Nathanael and Marinette sitting near the middle, and heads to them. She forces them to acknowledge her presence, coughing loudly.

They look up at her, and Chloé smiles awkwardly before clearing her throat.

“Kurtzberg. A word?”

She sees Nathanael and Marinette exchange a surprised look, and the memory flashes back to the forefront of her mind.

“O-okay,” Nathanael replies hesitantly.

She looks at Marinette, but one glance is all it takes for her to know the girl isn't budging.

“Nathanael Kurtzberg, will you-” Against her will, she looks at Marinette, and all her courage drains. Hurriedly, she casts her gaze around for something to say, and the first thing her eyes land on is a sketchbook.

“Draw me!” She blurts out, and winces internally.

_ What the  _ hell _ , Chloé,  _ she berates herself.  _ Draw me? What are you even thinking? _

“Dr- _ draw you _ ?” Nathanael repeats, and Chloé can only nod along glumly, unable to take back her words without looking like a complete fool.

She sees Marinette whisper something in Nathanael’s ear before the two of them burst into laughter. Chloé flushes in embarrassment, and sucks in a huge breath to try and fend off her tears.

“A ‘no’ would have done the job,” she mutters.

Turning around, she stalks off. She takes her first step out of her park and is almost about to let the tears roll when a cool hand wraps around her wrist. Whipping around, she's about to snap at the person, but the sight of a red mop of hair stops her.

“Is there something you wanted?” Chloé tried to keep her tone civil, but it came out a little frosty.

Nathanael blinks, a little surprised, then offers her an apologetic smile.

“I-I'm sorry. It was rude of me- us, rude of us, to laugh at you. And I would like to add that it wasn't you we were laughing at, per se. Marinette just made an admittedly badly timed joke.”

“Then why isn't she here to apologize?” Chloé demands. She knows she's acting petty, so she's surprised when Nathanael nods in agreement.

“You're right, she should be here. I asked her to stay behind because I wanted to talk to you by myself.”

A pause only makes Chloé more tense, mind whirling into overdrive as she wonders what Nathanael might have to tell her.

“I will draw you.”

The statement is blunt and sudden, causing Chloé to blink in surprise.

“I-  _ what?” _

Nathanael opens and closes his mouth a couple of times, clearly confused. “Sorry, was that not what you- before, you said-”

Chloé calms down in understanding. She's about to decline when she realizes how much of a fool it  would make her seem. The added bonus of spending time with Nathanael floats through her head, and the pros outweigh the cons, so she nods.

“It was wise of you to agree,” she says, internally cringing at her snark, and by Nathanael’s expression she knows he caught it.

“I mean. Thank you. You'll have appointment details sent to you no later than tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

They exchange awkward smiles, and Nathanael turns to walk back to Marinette.

When Chloé walks away, her steps are a bit lighter and her heart a bit freer than before.


	7. Chapter 7

_If there’s anyone who would see good out of this_ , Adrien grumbles inwardly, _it’s Plagg_. After all, more akuma attacks mean more cheese for the small god.

It’s Rena who ends up alerting them of the akuma, merely minutes after their talk, but Adrien is the last to arrive at the blinking beacon shown on his baton’s GPS.

“Hello, ladies,” Chat greets. “M’lady, Tina, Rena.”

Chat cocks his head at the latter. “Weren’t you going to do homework, Rena?”

“Until she popped up, yeah,” Rena grumbles.

“How’d you know that?” Ladybug asks suspiciously, brows furrowed.

“Uh- I mean, don’t we all have homework to do?” Chat flounders, and Ladybug doesn’t really seem to buy it, but she drops the topic.

“Anyways.” Ceratina coughs, bringing herself into the center of attention. “From what Rena and I have seen, she’s called Queen. Getting hit by a beam from her scepter makes you obey one command of hers. No clue on her goal or object.”

“Engage?” Chat asks. “She doesn’t seem _too_ harmful.”

Ladybug nods, and signals for them to fan out. They approach Queen slowly, and she somehow doesn’t seem to notice them. This, they find out, is a ploy when all of a sudden, she whips around and shoots beams at them. Rena immediately whips up doubles of the heroes, and the four dart in and out between the shots to attack.

“What's got your hair in a twist, Your Highness?” Chat teases, deflecting a shot.

“Nothing you'd know. Pretty boy like you; you'd probably be the one _causing_ the problems,” the akuma sneered. “Flirting around like it's just a game, and not able to take anything seriously. A two timer. A cheater. A fraud.”

Chat raises his eyebrows. “A bold claim, lady. You hardly even know me.”

“Fair,” the akuma admits. “But just as I don’t know if you’re bad, I can’t tell if you’re worth trusting, either.”

A pink butterfly outline flashes across her face, and when Queen looks at Chat once more, her eyes are hard.

“And according to Hawkmoth, that answer is no.”

The word is punctuated with several shots aimed at him, and he backflips out of the way easily.

“You're getting a little chee-”

His words were cut short when a beam of pink light clips him. He droops down, eyes glowing pink and turns still.

“Ky?” Queen finishes, smirking.

“What did you do to him,” Ladybug snapped. “I swear, Queen-”

“Oh, it's nothing horrible, little lady,” the akuma reassures, but her voice is silkily sweet and dangerous. “But with my one command, I could do a lot of things.”

Queen taps her chin, smirking. “Oh! Got it. How about, _petit chaton,_ you tell me… a secret?”

Ladybug sucks in a sharp breath. “No.”

She runs up to him, ignoring the akuma’s warning cry.

“Minou, please, don't listen to her; can you hear me? Chat Noir, focus on me.” Ladybug puts her hands on his shoulders, peering into the pink glow that overwhelms his eyes.

“How touching,” the akuma drawls. “But listen to me, little lady. He's not worth it. He's going to end up betraying you. Don't put too much faith in him.”

“Not Chat Noir,” Ladybug insists. “I trust Chat Noir.”

The akuma raises a dubious eyebrow. “Oh, really? Then, Chat Noir… tell me your secret.”

Chat tries to resist, he really does- but the pink haze in his brain is so compelling, so warm, so easy to slip and fall into…

“I know who Ladybug is.”

 

To say that she’s in shock is an understatement. Next to her, she sees Rena face palm, but right now she can't think about what that means. In fact, Ladybug can't seem to think about anything all. Her brain is on repeat, playing Chat’s words over and over, and she can't escape.

 _I know who Ladybug is I know who Ladybug is I_ know who Ladybug is.

She's too out of it to see the pink beam of light zooming towards her, and Rena needs to jump in the way to deflect the shot. Ceratina’s hand forces her to sit down in a corner, and she wants to get up, to distract herself, to fight, but the bee heroine issues a firm ‘Stay’ and so she does.

From her seat on the floor, Ladybug is reduced to a hapless spectator, and so she watches. Ceratina is on her game today, alert and ready. She expertly dodges every strike, even managing to get a few hits in though they don’t do much. Rena is also doing well, but she keeps on glancing towards her and Chat every once in a while. And Chat, Chat… to put it lightly, Chat Noir was not doing well. He dodges each beam of light a second later than usual, cutting a bit too close than she would like. She knows Chat probably didn't mean to find out about her on purpose, but she isn’t quite ready to deal with the conversation that they needed to have. She can’t stop her mind from working, however, and everything seems to click into place the longer she thinks.

The conversation she and Chat had after Inferno, about identities- that must have been when he found out. She was glad he came to her instead of bottling it up, but was just the tiniest bit betrayed he hadn’t straight up told her. Rena’s facepalm, after Chat revealed his secret- he must have talked to Rena as well, to get a second opinion. She supposed she couldn’t really blame him for wanting to talk to someone else about the matter. The only thing she didn’t understand is _how_. She’d been very careful, and made sure no one had followed or seen her whenever she went to transform or detransform. By the time she pays attention once more to the fight, Rena is cracking the akumatized object, letting a black butterfly escape. After performing the purification ritual, Ladybug leaves without a goodbye, heading home.

She can’t do this right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIEDDDD THIS WAS NOT A LONG CHAPTER WHATSOEVER AND I'M SUPER SORRY ABOUT THAT
> 
> IN MY DEFENSE
> 
> ...Actually, I have none. I'm super sorry about this... it just wouldn't feel right to lump them all into one chapter because of big subject changes, y'know? Thanks for all your patience!! I love all of you <3


	8. Chapter 8

The white butterfly flits away, but not all is resolved. Chat still stands in the middle of the roof, eyes out of focus as he gazes where Ladybug once stood.

“Okay, I don't know what's going on,” Ceratina starts, breaking the silence. “But Chat, I'm trusting you to fix this.”

With a grim smile, the bee hero hops off the edge of the roof, leaving him with Rena Rouge.

“Look,” she says. “I admit this isn't the best way to reveal your knowledge. In fact, I think it's one of the worst. But like Ceratina said, I trust that you can fix it. I believe in you, Chat. I know you can do it.”

Chat lets out a noncommittal grunt, staring desolately at the horizon.

“Oh my _god_ , Chat,” Rena groans. “You're making this into a much bigger deal than it needs to be. Give her a day or two to calm down, then approach her and just explain yourself, okay?”

“Her next patrol is tomorrow,” Chat says. “Does that work?”

“It's your choice, not mine, Chat,” Rena points out. He pouts at her, blinking slowly.

“But… yes, tomorrow should work,” Rena adds with a sigh. “That's all I'm going to help with, though. You need to figure this out by yourself.”

She hesitates before continuing, peering at Chat with worry. “I'm- I’m going to leave now. Are you going be okay by yourself? You should go home.”

Chat barks out a surprised laugh as he registers Rena’s words.

“I'll be fine,” he says, smiling bitterly.

After all, whether he went home or not, he'd still be alone. Rena frowns at him, but waves at him and leaves all the same.

 

Chat lowers himself to sit on the edge of the roof, swinging his legs. His feet thud against the building wall, heels aching slightly with each hit. He relishes the feeling, allowing the rhythmic beat to ground him as he replays what had just happened.

He doesn't blame Ladybug for being upset. He thinks that he would be too, if the same thing had happened to him. And while there is a lot to regret, there wouldn't be any use in dwelling in the past.

Suddenly approaching Ladybug on her patrol might not be the best idea, but he didn't know how talking to her now would result. It's worth a try, though.

Unsurprisingly, she doesn't pick up. Not that he'd expect her to, of course, but the cheery voicemail greeting only drags his spirits further down.

“Uh- hey, Ladybug,” he starts, deciding against any nicknames. “I- I know you're probably upset. And it's not your fault. But… I'd like to talk this out with you, if that's okay. Tomorrow? During your patrol? I'll be waiting for you at the Eiffel Tower. If you don't come, I understand. Goodnight, Ladybug. I- I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe. Uh-”

Chat grimaces, then ends the voicemail. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighs and turns towards home. Shutting his baton with a decisive click, he extends it into a pole and hopes tomorrow brings better luck.

 _Ha_ , he thinks bitterly. _Luck._

Funny how the time he needs it the most is the time he has the least of it.

 

Wearing a skintight (and fairly thin) suit is while standing on top of the Eiffel Tower in the cold (and surprisingly windy) Parisian night isn't the best decision Chat has made. The cold cuts through the magical fabric like knives, spreading an imaginary layer of frost over his skin. He curls up tighter, sitting down and wrapping his arms around his legs.

But if this is what it takes to get back Ladybug’s trust, he'll do it.

 

The lights on the Tower begin to turn on as night falls, providing visibility but not warmth. Somewhere, a bell tolls, signaling that it's eight, and Chat sighs.

By now, Ladybug definitely should have gotten his message. He'll stay for fifteen more minutes, he decides, and begins to count the seconds for lack of better things to do. Not even two hundred seconds in, he's asleep.

 

When Chat wakes up, blearily blinking his eyes, he sees a red spotted leg and immediately jerks awake, scrambling to stand up. He catches the remnants of a bittersweetly fond smile that flickers away when he meets her eyes and swallows down a knot of nerves and guilt.

“L-Ladybug,” he breathes, clenching his fists to restrain himself from making any rash decisions. “You came.”

His partner stares at him with an unreadable expression on her face, eyes dark as she speaks. “Lets cut to the chase, Chat. I want to know when and how.”

“After Inferno,” Chat reveals. “I was in an alley to feed my kwami, and I saw you- as Ladybug- fall into an alley across from me. And when I came out I saw this girl on the opposite sidewalk, and-“

“Of course,” Ladybug sighed. “Yeah. Okay.”

She seems to let down her guard, slumping onto the ground.

“Ladybug, I’m really sorry. I swear I didn’t do it on purpose, and I know you didn’t want me to find out, but I couldn’t just _not tell you_ , ‘cause that felt weird, so-“ Chat pauses to take a breath, small pricks stinging the back of his eyes.

It’s in that breath that Ladybug waves a hand at him in dismissal.

“Save it, Chat. Sit. I- it’s not your fault.” She closes her eyes, flattening her lips into a grim line. “I’m not mad at yo-, I mean, I kind of am, but not completely? It’s- I’m mad at myself, I guess.”

Chat recoils, taking a seat a few paces away from his partner. “ _You_? But- but I’m the one who- I betrayed you, by finding out your identity. I- why are you mad at yourself?”

Ladybug lifts up a gloved hand, ticking off fingers as she counts.

“I’m mad at myself for not being careful enough, for hating you-”

Chat blinks in surprise, a sinking feeling in his stomach. “You- you hated me?”

“Of course not!” Ladybug defends. “It was misplaced hate; I wasn’t really mad at _you_. I just kinda wanted someone to blame for this mess, and-”

“You _do_ think it’s wrong that I found out,” Chat whispers.

“No!” Ladybug explodes.

She visibly forces herself to calm down, taking a shaky breath.

“Well I mean, yes, it’s wrong, but not… _wrong_ , exactly? It’s just- not good that you know, I guess. Not because it’s _you_ \- hell, I want more than anything for you to know- but if one of us got possessed, the other would be in danger, and-” Ladybug grits her teeth before slamming her hands down on the ground, leaning forward to look Chat in the eyes. “I realize this is a super crappy generic thing to say but I’m doing this because I care about you, Chat.”

As he looks into his partner’s eyes, he feels a lump in his throat grow, but not because of sadness. It’s overwhelming, almost, a tidal wave of gratitude threatening to spill out of his eyes in the form of tears.

“I- thank you, Ladybug,” he says, voice almost cracking. “I care a lot about you too.”

The two sit in silence for a while, before Ladybug breaks it.

“So, uh-“ Ladybug’s fingers scratch on the ground absentmindedly as she glances up at Chat almost shyly. “A reveal? To commemorate the occasion and all that?”

Chat leans back in surprise, eyes wide. “Wh- _what_? Well, uh, only if you want, of course, and-“

Ladybug smiles gently. “I want to, Chat, don’t worry.”

Chat gapes silently, nodding.

He sees Ladybug heave in a giant breath before breathing out a soft detransformation command.

Pink light flashes bright in the dark night, and Chat blinks on reflex.

And when he opens his eyes….

His first thought is, _Rena was right._

Just earlier that week, he had warned Chloe against jumping to conclusions, and here he was, practically diving headfirst into them.

Ladybug isn’t whoever he saw; it was all a coincidence, and he had guessed wrong, and now he has to pay the price

Some invisible barrier is lodged in his throat, and try as he might, he can’t speak, can’t diffuse this situation, can’t make it better. He tries to cough, to clear his throat, anything, but it doesn’t work. He pushes against it, trying to say _something_ , anything at all, and then-

“M-Marinette?”

  


Various emotions flick over Ladybug’s unmasked face. He catches glimpses of confusion, shock, wariness, and then realization.

He’s not prepared for what happens next.

Ladybug’s wrath, though neither physical nor verbal, is like a punch to the gut. It knocks all the breath out of him, leaving him empty. Yet something still remains inside, dragging him down.

“Was this all a trick?” Ladybug whispers, voice cracking. “Y-you-“

“No, Chat says vehemently, but it sounds weak, even to himself. “I made a mistake, yes, but-”

“The akuma was right,” Ladybug says, laughing hysterically. “She told me not to trust you, and- and-

Ladybug sighs, glancing over at him. “This is it, isn’t it, Chat Noir. Our big falling out. It’s been a good run.”

“You’re just going to run away from this?” Chat whispers, not wanting her to leave.

There’s gotta be _some_ way to fix this. Some way to repair what was damaged and move on, to-

“Run away?” Ladybug quirks a humorless smile at him. “It’s not my problem to fix. It’s yours.”

The glow of her retransformation is nothing like the last, this time harsh and glaring. When Chat finally blinks away the spots in his vision, Ladybug is perched on the railing and ready to leave.

She turns away, unclipping her yo-yo from her belt. “Good night-”

“Ladybug, I _swear_ , by the heavens, by my miraculous, I never meant to hurt you. I don’t know how to make it up to you, but I’ll try. I’ll try, and-“

“There’ll be no need for that,” Ladybug snaps. “Now, good _night_.”

Ladybug zips away, red swallowed up by the darkness.

The dam in his throat finally breaks, and tears roll slowly down his face. And as night continues to fall, Chat Noir continues to sit there. Continues to mourn. Continues to cry.

  
  


It’s early evening of the next day when Chat Noir touches down on Marinette’s balcony. With a flash of green light, the suit melts off of him, leaving him as Adrien Agreste.

“Are you sure?” Plagg asks.

“Yes,” Adrien says resolutely. “I know she said she didn’t want me to reveal myself, but this is the only way to prove that it wasn’t a trick.”

Plagg hums, not objecting. Adrien takes this as approval and stomps loudly on the balcony floor, hoping to catch Marinette’s attention.

It works, because barely seconds later the trapdoor opens, and a blue-black head of hair pops out.

And then there’s a fist swinging towards his face. He ducks instinctively, bringing up his hands defensively.

When he opens his eyes a crack, Marinette is staring at him in shock and slight horror

“A- _Adrien_?” Marinette squeaks in surprise. “I’m so sorry, I- what are you doing here?”

She sweeps a scrutinizing gaze over him, squinting at him curiously.

“Wait, also, how on earth did you _get_ here?”

From where Plagg is hiding in his pocket, he feels a reassuring warmth and musters up a cheerful smile.

He doesn’t know if it’s knowing that Marinette is actually Ladybug, or if it’s because of what he’s about to do that makes his heart speed up almost uncomfortably.

“Hey,” he greets. “You see, I have this thing called a miraculous-“

He holds up his right hand, wiggling his fingers so that the dimming light glints off of his ring.

“And this miraculous, it transforms me into Chat Noir, so that I can help you protect Paris from evil butterflies.”

Adrien’s smile grows more strained the longer Marinette stays silent, the girl staring at him with her mouth wide open in a gape.

 

If the people on the sidewalk listened carefully that night, they’d hear a scream echo through the air, followed by the sound of someone falling from a balcony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments for a validation-deprived author?? Thank you all so much <3


	9. Chapter 9

Chloé is lounging on her bed, practicing various poses for her painting when a sharp rap sounds on her door.

Scrambling to maneuver herself into a presentable position, she barely catches her breath in time to open the door before there’s another knock.

“Hi,” she greets. “I- Nathanael, did you have anything to eat yet?”

“No,” the boy admits. “I’ll have something when I get home. We wouldn’t want to waste time, right?”

“Nonsense,” Chloé laughs a bit nervously. “Sit down. I’ve got food.”

Nathanael glances nervously at her butler for some reason, before nodding and stepping into the room clutching a case of supplies.

They sit down at a table and begin to eat, the slightest thrill of nervous anticipation making Chloé jumpy.

The impromptu meal is filled with somewhat awkward silence, only ended when they both finish and Nathanael takes out a tablet. Chloé opens her mouth at this, willing herself to speak despite her nerves.

“I- I got you something.”

Nathanael glances up in surprise. “Wh- you didn’t have to, you know.”

“Yeah. But I-“ Chloé screams at herself mentally at the lack of a suitable answer. She couldn’t just say it’s because she liked him or anything. She couldn’t! “I- you need the best supplies if you’re going to draw _me_. Only the best quality can capture my beauty.”

She tries to ignore the brief frown that flickers on Nathanael’s face, instead bending down to take the package and give it to him.

Nathanael quietly accepts the tablet, and Chloé moves into a pose. And maybe said pose allows her to stare at Nathanael’s face, but neither she nor he comments about it, and so the two sit in silence.

After a while, Nathanael looks up at Chloé and meets her eyes.

“Why?” He asks.

“W- _why_?” Chloé stutters in disbelief. “I mean, we’re friends now, right? And it’s like payment, I guess, for drawing me.”

Nathanael furrows his brows, pursing his lips.

“Chloé,” he says quietly, “if we’re really friends, that’s not how things work.”

Chloé bristles defensively, gaping at him in shock. “Excuse me? I’m- I’m being _nice_ to you! What more do you want, drawing pencils?”

The tablet makes a small clicking noise as Nathanael sets it down, but the sound rings like a clash of cymbals in her ears. Chloé can feel that her eyes are wide, the skin around them almost uncomfortably stretched. She’s not exactly sure what just happened or why it did, but even she can tell it’s not good.

“Chloé,” Nathanael says softly. “I don’t think this is how real friendships actually work. You can’t just buy someone’s love with gifts.”

“Why not?” Chloé asks, a hint of hurt disguised as irritation slipping into her voice. “I’m being nice. I’m giving you things. What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong is that you’re using money and materialistic _things_ to get people to like you!” The boy bursts out loudly. “Those kinds of relationships never last, and they’ll end badly. I- I don’t want to be one of those people, Chloé. If I’m going to be your friend, I want to do it properly.”

His words don’t make sense. They ring over and over in her ears, different parts of his message splicing into incoherent babble.

She resumes her pose, but it’s a subconscious movement that she has no real control over. It’s a nice stable position, blank eyes aimed at Nathanael but still distant and unfocused. Not even a few seconds later, Nathanael sets down the tablet once more and quietly excuses himself, saying he was tired. Or maybe it wasn’t quiet, and she was just so disconnected from the outside world. There _is_ a strange ringing in her ears, one that doesn’t disappear until a good five minutes after he leaves. She’s so confused, so lost- she only moves to check the drawing, and almost chokes.

The girl in the drawing isn’t finished; she’s made of feathery black lines, incomplete and empty-looking without color. The girl in the drawing has indifferent eyes and a proud smile, lips curved high and detailed in sharp lines. The girl in the drawing is detached, haughty in the way where she thinks she’s on a beautiful pedestal, but instead trapped in a box, close yet so far away from everyone else. And worst of all- the girl in the drawing is painfully, painfully accurate.

  
  


Marinette is out of it Monday morning when she walks into class, and though she hides it well from everyone else, Alya knows her friend too well to be fooled.

She spends the entire class period sneaking looks at her friend, trying to decipher what had happened.

Finally, they were dismissed, and Alya whips around to stare at her friend.

“Girl-”

“Save it, Alya,” Marinette snaps tiredly. “Not today, please.”

“Who did what?” Alya demands. “Tell me, and I’ll- I’ll-”

Marinette simply ignores her, to Alya’s shock, packing away her tablet and pencil. It’s not like Marinette to do such a thing, and Alya immediately furrows her brows and drops her tough act.

“Mari, I don’t want to pressure you or anything, but if something happened….”

“Look, it doesn’t matter if Adrien-” Marinette immediately clams up afterwards, but Alya hears it.

“Oh, Mari,” Alya whispers. “I-I know I’m not a fighter, and he’s a fencer, but if you want me to I _can_ and will most definitely be willing to punch him.”

Marinette makes something that could be a cross between a grimace and a laugh.

“Ha. Um, yeah. I might have done that a few nights ago.”

Alya hisses in sympathy, but then does a double take and whips around to stare around at Marinette.

“Woah, hold up there, missy, _night?_ You were-”

“I love how you ignored the whole punching thing,” Marinette deadpans, a hint of humor coloring her voice.

“THAT’S NOT THE POINT, YOU WERE UP LATE WITH-”

Hands slam over her mouth, effectively shutting her up.

Before Alya can interrogate her friend further, Nathanael walks up to them.

“Nath!” Marinette exclaims, just a little too high-pitched and cheery to be genuine. “How nice to see you. Sorry, Alya, I’ll get back to you later.”

Poor Nathanael is practically dragged along as Marinette scoops up her backpack and takes hold of his hand, walking quickly out of the room.

Alya sighs, but lets her friend leave. She’s not going to let her friend slip away so easily, though- she’ll take her time, and find the truth.

  


“I’m not going ask about that,” Nathanael begins. “Partially because given what I just saw, it’d be a bad idea to, partially because I’ve got other stuff to tell you.”

Marinette quirks an eyebrow at him. “Spill.”

“I talked to Chloé Friday night,” he reveals.

 _Friday_ , Marinette thinks. _The day Chat- or Adrien- revealed himself._

“And before you say anything, it was for whatever drawing she wanted me to do. And nothing bad happened, and I generally had a good time, but-”

“But?” Marinette prompts after a beat or two of silence. “A-are you okay?”

“I’m super confused,” Nathanael says. “I guess… I’m not sure why I like her.”

Marinette’s mouth pops open in slight surprise, and Nathanael sighs. He searches for something to say that might clarify the situation, tapping his finger against his thigh. After mulling it over, he opens his mouth to speak.

“I think I fell in love with a version of her that doesn’t exist. I think I made- not a mistake, but… a miscalculation?” Nathanael rubs his forehead irritatedly. “Chloé’s pretty. Gorgeous, even. But I keep on seeing her as someone she _could_ be, and not the person she is. You- Marinette, I think you were right.”

He feels strong arms wrap around him in a tight hug, and he accepts the embrace.

When Marinette draws back, she asks him a question.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“What am I- _what_?” He repeats, confused.

“You said you’re confused, and that you don’t like Chloé the way she is now. What are you going to do about it?” Marinette clarifies.

 _Oh_ , Nathanael thinks. He wasn’t sure. He was originally planning to cut his losses and just… give up, probably. He hadn’t even considered the  possibility that he would actively do something.

“It probably wouldn’t be smart for me to go for a romantic relationship,” he says slowly. “I think- I mean, I wouldn’t say I’m _that_ great of a person, but I think, maybe I can help her change first. Not necessarily to be the version of her I had in my head, but just… be better, I guess.”

“Aww, my little Nathanael’s growing up,” she teases.

Nathanael sticks his tongue out at her, but smiles fondly at his friend.

“Really, though,” Marinette says. “I’m proud of you. That’s a good decision.”

Nathanael hums contentedly, and the two walk in peaceful silence until they reach an intersection in the hallway.

He pauses, glancing at his friend, who seems calm, but her eyes are stormy with some troubling emotion.

“Uh- hey, Mari?”

She glances up at him, tilting her head slightly.

“I know I said I wouldn’t ask,” he says hesitantly, “but I- about your… problem. I’ll be here to talk, whenever you need. Y-you know that, right?”

Marinette smiles at him, eyes sad but now, they seem content, or at least calm.

“Yeah. But… this is one problem I’m not going to burden you with.”

Nathanael eyes her. “This is what friends are for, isn’t it?”

“I know,” she says simply. “Thank you, Nathanael.”

She hugs him, and he hugs her back, noting the slight tremble to her limbs. She leaves after that, heading to class, and he stares at the space she used to occupy sadly. He didn’t know what she was dealing with, but he knows that Marinette is strong enough to get through it. He can only hope that it won’t cause her too much pain.

 

Her conversation with Nathanael sticks in her head the entire day. She bumps into Adrien while transferring classes, and he glances at her with a look that starts out hopeful but fades into grim acceptance. Turning away, Marinette speedwalks to class.

This had happened throughout the entire day. It had been a weekend, so Marinette busied herself with other mindless tasks to avoid having to talk to Adrien. But she couldn’t avoid him for too long at school, despite her best tries. In the beginning, she had rejected his eager smiles, looking past him and ignoring him. And as the periods passed, Adrien received the message. But this time, Nathanael’s words were fresh when their eyes had met.

 _I’ll be here to talk, whenever you need._ Slitted green cat eyes come to her mind, unbidden. _This is what friends are for, isn’t it?_ Laughter ringing off the Eiffel Tower late into the night, fists pounding with a solid _smack_ time after time, and then- flashes of neon pink and green, transformation cries, dividing them, carving a rift deeper than she could imagine.

She couldn’t deny that she felt sad and lonely, feeling Chat Noir’s absence- _Adrien_ ’s absence. Adrien. God, she still didn’t know how to feel about that. Part of her felt sorry for punching him off of the balcony, but how could he just so nonchalantly reveal himself?

She pushes the whole ‘Adrien is Chat Noir’ problem to the back of her mind, instead trying to figure out the whole situation during her own reveal.

He had claimed that he knew who she was. That part, she believes. Whether or not his guess was correct (it wasn’t) was another matter entirely, but Marinette had the feeling that Chat truly thought he knew.

Of course, she didn’t think this at the time of the reveal. What _was_ she supposed to think? She had jumped to the conclusion that he had made the whole thing up to force her into a reveal, but further reflection had made her realize how stupid that idea had been.

 _Chat doesn’t have a reason to want to know so badly,_ she thinks. _And it’s not like him to be so… indirect about it._

But if it had all been an honest mistake, what was the reason behind _his_ reveal. What was he trying to show? What could he possibly gain?

She supposes that the action meant he didn’t mean to force her or anything. After all, she had established (or so she hoped) that he hadn’t pushed the reveal for selfish purposes. Because if it _was_ , he wouldn’t have revealed himself, would he? He’d have just kept her identity to himself and be free to do whatever. So then, maybe-

“Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng!”

A sharp cry interrupts her rambling train of thought, followed by a hand slamming down a packet of paper on her desk.

“It’s a wonder you did well on this test, let alone passed it at all,” Madame Mendeleiev sneers. “Keep up the daydreaming, and we’ll see about that.”

Marinette mumbles a soft apology, tucking the test into a folder. She was still confused about most of what had happened, but she was sure about one thing.

Sneaking a look at her teacher, who was busy yelling at a sheepish Nathanael, she slips a hand into her bag.

 

Across the hall, a few classrooms away, Adrien Agreste’s phone pings. He sneaks a look at it, reading the notification across the screen, and-

 

_(11:54) Marinette Dupain-Cheng: we need to talk._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALL HOP ABOARD THE CHLOÉ REDEMPTION ARC TRAIN WE MAKE NO STOPS AND CONTINUE ALL THE WAY TO THE END. IT'S AN EXPRESS Y'ALL
> 
> Anyways!! It's... a decent length I guess. I hope you enjoyed nevertheless, and whoooo I wonder what Adrien and Mari will talk about.... hm.....


	10. Chapter 10

At lunch, Marinette doesn’t wait for Adrien to find his way to her. She waits in the halls until he’s released from class, then grabs him by the arm with the intention of dragging him to her home.

So focused is Marinette that she doesn’t see Alya trailing behind her.

“Where are we going?” Adrien asks, having to run slightly to keep up.

“My house.”

“What about food?”

Marinette stops in her tracks, staring back at Adrien with a deadpan expression. “I live in a bakery.”

“Right,” Adrien laughs nervously.

They continue walking, albeit a bit slower now. She lets go of Adrien’s arm after a while, and they walk in silence that seems to prickle at Marinette’s skin. When they arrive at the bakery, Marinette greets her parents with a cheery smile just a tad too wide and a hello an edge too sharp with nerves.

“Maman, Papa. Adrien and and I need to talk,” she says. “Could I take some food?”

“Of course, dear!” Sabine says with a kind smile. She bustles around the display are, packing some food into a box and giving it to Marinette. “We’ll take care to stay out of your way, sweetie. Enjoy!”

With a last smile that she immediately drops once she turn away, Marinette walks up to her room.

 

She’s eternally grateful that she had the sense to take down her posters of Adrien a year or two ago. Not only would they have made this talk more embarrassing and awkward, but she had come to see that they were kind of creepy and obsessive.

“So- uh, what are we talking about?” Adrien asks cautiously.

“What do you think?” Marinette asks delicately, raising an eyebrow.

Adrien slumps over, sighing. “The reveals.”

Marinette nods, taking a seat on her bed. She motions for Adrien to sit as well; and he does so on her desk chair. The box of food is placed between them, a tentative peace offering.

“Explain your side,” Marinette says. “I think it’ll help.”

Adrien settles back into his seat, munching thoughtfully on a croissant.

“As you know, it began after Inferno. I got on the dragon, I threw down the necklace, and I escaped because I was detransformed. I hid in this alley to watch you purify the akuma and make sure everything was okay, and I saw you jump into this other alley to detransform. I turned around to feed Plagg, my kwami-“

A black blob zooms out of Adrien’s bag. Plagg is cat themed- _makes sense_ , Marinette thinks- with bright green eyes and needle-like pointed fangs. He nods at Marinette in what seems to be like indifference, not bothering to greet her as he asks:

“Where’s Tikki, and do you have cheese?”

Marinette blinks, surprised.

“Uh, Tikki’s right here,” she says, opening her purse. “And I don’t have cheese, but there’s a cheese danish in the box if you’d like?”

Plagg gives a nod of satisfaction and drags the danish into the air before escaping off onto some shelf with Tikki.

“You’re not staying to listen?” Marinette asks.

“Tikki would, I won’t. But we’ve got to catch up, since it took you forever to meet each other, and I’ve heard enough of Adrien’s whining to want to listening. Later, bug.”

With that, Plagg disappears for good, the only sound that of faint chewing.

“Well, before I was _rudely interrupted_ -” The sound of someone blowing a raspberry cuts him off. Adrien makes a face and clears his throat loudly before continuing. “Right. I turned around to feed Plagg, and when I turned back around to leave, I saw this girl walking across the street, just a few feet away from where Ladybug had fallen. And this girl, well, now I guess she’s a fan of yours or something, because she had black hair tied into pigtails.” Adrien blushes. “Well, now, this is gonna seem super stupid, but back then I thought she was you. And yes, I realize this is insanely stupid, but I wanted to ask her if- if she was Ladybug.”

Marinette blinks disbelievingly. “Y-you were just going to walk up, tap her on the shoulder, and ask if she was a superhero?”

Adrien seems to shrink under her gaze. “Uh- um… what would you do if, hypothetically- _hypothetically_ \- my answer was yes?”

She huffs, gaping at Adrien. She’s not _angry_ at him- maybe a little exasperatedly fond, and definitely annoyed- but not angr-

“Sorry, m’lady, I can be a bit im _paw_ lsive sometimes.”

Never mind, she was angry.

“Okay, first of all, no.” Marinette ticks off fingers as she speaks, an eyebrow dangerously high on her forehead. “Second of all, _no_. Third of all- you- how can you pun, at a time like this?”

She squeezes her eyes shut, groaning loudly. “Why couldn’t it be a _good_ pun, if anything?”

She bites with exaggerated anger into a cookie, glaring at Adrien who has the audacity to snicker at the crumbs dusted across her lips.

“Continue with the story,” she orders playfully. “I’ve still gotta decide your fate, _chaton_. And those puns? Not helping.”

Adrien’s eyes widen briefly before he swallows and opens his mouth to speak.

“Ah, where was I… right. I ran across the street, because I’m dumb and actually wanted to confront her. That’s when I saw the name ‘Maria’ stitched across the back of her backpack, and then I lost sight of her because she went into this house, so-”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it!” Marinette exclaims, as the rest of what had happened clicks into place. Anger (real anger, this time- whether or not it was justified was unknown) bubbles underneath her skin, whipping her up into a dangerously furious state. “Do you mean I _wasted_ countless hours thinking about what happened and _why_ it happened just because you made a silly mistake? That this could all have been avoided if you weren’t so- so damn _difficult_? If you just told me from the start that- You are so lucky I got a good grade on Madame Mendeleiev’s test. If not- UGH! I-”

Adrien flinches but stands up to face her resolutely, face set into a frown. “I get that it was dumb, but you can’t yell at me for it. I apologized, I admitted I was wrong, and now we can move on. Not to mention that this entire day, you ignored me when I wanted to talk, and now when _you_ finally decide to have a chat, I have to come along with you. Yes, I admit, I want to talk, but what if I’m not ready to forgive you for what you did today?”

Marinette soundlessly opens her mouth, closing it when no words come to mind.

“I didn’t come here to fight, and I don’t want to. So that’s why I’m going to say that on my part, all is forgiven. I don’t care about you ignoring me anymore. I- I do care about you, so when you’ve controlled your emotions and are ready to have a real conversation, without all this yelling, we can talk. If you’re planning on arguing, then I’m not very sorry to say I’ll have to leave. Thank you for the food.”

Adrien grabs his bag, standing by the trapdoor as he waits for what she has to say.

The anger flees from her body as quickly as it comes, and it’s replaced with guilt. The back of her nose feels sore and… closed off, kind of, like she’s breathing through cotton, and pressure pushes at the backs of her eyes.

“Adrien,” she says, stretching her hands out towards him. “Adrien, god, I’m so sorry, I- ugh, _I’m_ the stupid one, aren’t I?”

Marinette smacks her forehead with a hand, plopping down onto her bed. She isn’t quite sure when she got up, but now that she’s sitting down, her body seems to scream with relief.

“I- not to make excuses, but it’s been an emotionally charged few days, since the akuma made you say that, and then you cleared it up but I revealed myself and it turned out that things _weren’t_ cleared up, and then _you_ revealed yourself, and-” Marinette stops herself in the middle of her ramble to force a breath into her lungs. “I wanted someone to blame this emotional dump on, and I took it out on you since you were involved in the situation and because you’re here to like, yell at and all, but you deserved like _none_ of it, and- and-”

Marinette bursts out into tears, hugging her knees.

“Adrien, I missed you so, so, much.”

She squeezes her eyes shut, tears still leaking past them. Marinette heaves in huge breaths, trying to calm herself down, and sits alone for a minute or two before she feels warm arms come around her in a hug. She leans into it instinctively, sniffling a bit.

“I didn’t even realize it,” she says, voice cracking slightly. “I convinced myself I was okay, and that I only felt bad because you betrayed my trust. But I realized, I was sad because- because I thought that we couldn’t be friends anymore, and that we’d never get back to what we used to be.”

“And what was that?” Adrien whispers, arms freezing around her. “W-what were we?”

The tears hiccup into a stop, and Marinette feels shame wash over her for having just randomly started crying. But she forces herself to think about Adrien’s question, mulling it over in her head. The answer she comes up with, even to herself, is unsatisfactory.

“I don’t know,” she confesses. “Friends, partners- but I know you so much better than that, though! I’m- it’s confusing.”

Adrien hums in agreement, and the previous tension seems to dissolve into silence. Marinette finally breaks it with a failed attempt at a joke, but it does seem to get them back on a better track.

“I hope you realize that wasn’t the best way to reveal yourself.”

“Yeah,” Adrien mumbles sheepishly, not looking at her. “Plagg told me as much. But i just wanted to let you know that I was sorry, and….”

He stares down at the muffin he holds in his hands, shrugging helplessly. “I’ve been told I don’t make the best decisions when I’m worried or upset.”

“Same,” Marinette murmurs quietly.

Another silence. This one is… foggier, perhaps, than the first; still heavy enough to make her feel its presence, but not bad enough to be stifling.

“So, Ladybug-”

“You’re Cha-”

The two stop, blushing slightly as they glance at each other.

“We should give it time, probably,” Marinette suggests. “Just- ease into it.”

“Ease into it. Okay,” Adrien echoes.

“Nice.”

“Cool.”

Marinette feels heat rise once again to her cheeks at the awkward exchange, getting up from her bed and picking up the box of food.

“Should- do we need to get back to school now?” Adrien asks.

“To avoid being late, yeah. Probably.”

Marinette avoids Adrien’s gaze. She and he both know it’s nowhere near time for class, and though they’re not arguing anymore, the atmosphere had dissolved into something awkward and reminiscent of a first date.

 _At least they had gotten something out of it_ , Marinette reasons. They had fought (surprisingly briefly) and she had cried, but the air had been cleared, and they weren’t as awkward as before. Things were finally looking okay.

 

 

Adrien is emotionally drained by the time the conversation is over. Things had taken a turn for the worse, and then the strange before he and Ladybug- _Marinette-_ had patched things up. He didn’t regret any part of the conversation, but he really wished they didn’t have to argue.

He takes a calming breath, waving goodbye to Marinette’s parents, and then steps out the door just in time to smack right into the chest of one smirking Alya Cesaire.

“So, lover boy,” Alya drawls. “Figure things out with your girlfriend yet?”

Adrien snorts out a tired laugh, continuing to walk past Alya.

“Hey, what is it with people and ignoring me today?” Alya grouches, jogging slightly to keep up.

“Not my girlfriend,” is all Adrien bothers to answer with.

“Did… did you guys break up?” Alya asks, lowering her voice.

“Can’t break up people who were never together,” Adrien replies.

He doesn’t really care for Alya’s questions; not now, when faint anger and irritation still courses through him.

“Then did you reject her?” Alya’s voice is sharp now, piercing and demanding and _protective_ , Adrien realizes.

“We talked of nothing romantic,” Adrien says firmly.

The brunette’s eyes shine with something curious and eager, and she darts in front of him to halt him in his steps.

“The contents of our conversation are not for me to share,” he snaps before she can say anything, slightly annoyed with the questions being fired at him. “So please- leave me alone.”

There’s a moment of silence where the two stare at each other, and something seems to click for Alya. Her face falls and changes into a closed off expression, clenching her hands tightly at her sides in restraint.

“O-Okay,” she agrees softly. “Are you-”

She seems to rethink her question, looking back to him with an unsure smile and a soft pat on the shoulder.

“I hope that everything will turn out alright for you, Adrien,” she bids, and with that turns around and walks back in the direction of school.

Adrien stands there in the street, chilly winds nipping at his ears and face and basically his entire body, but he can’t bring himself to move.

 _I hope that everything will turn out alright for you_.

Alright. That was a word he hadn’t heard in a while, one he hadn’t associated with himself or his emotions. Alright.

Ever since Ladybug’s reveal- no, ever since he had thought he found out, all these weird feeling had been bottled up in his chest, feelings he had tried to let out in various ways. He had talked to Ladybug, he tried bottling it up (and that did _not_ turn out well, what with Queen and all), he’d talked to Rena- he tried to take action to talk to Ladybug and solve things for once and for all, and look where that had gotten him. Then- _oh._ Plagg’s original advice to just sit back and let others take the action _did_ prove to be the right thing to do. Not following his kwami's advice had cost him a lot of emotional trouble, but.... But after all this, after he thought about it- maybe he _was_ alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THINGS ARE GETTING RESOLVED AND THIS FIC IS ALMOST OVER *SOBS* I CAN'T BELIEVE IT.


	11. Chapter 11

Nathanael sees Marinette rush off somewhere, dragging a disgruntled Adrien behind her, and smiles to himself. He wasn’t going to bother her- he’d seen for himself how anxious and and stressed the problem had made her, and wanted her to get better. And if that meant their lunchtime had to be cut short or even canceled for the day? He’d be totally okay with it.

He pulls out his laptop and drawing tablet, wanting to start working on Chloé’s portrait. He doesn’t know what it’s for or when she needs it by, but he has a nice bit of spare time that he might not have later.

Nathanae moves his hand, pen about to touch the tablet- and then a soft, almost shy cough interrupts him.

His eyes widen when he sees the blonde standing behind him, one hand clutching a bag strap and the other clenched in a nervous fist by her side.

“Chloé!” He greets with surprise. “Uh- what are you here? And, um, where’s Adrien?”

Chloé takes a deep breath, eyes fluttering shut before she opens them again to stare at him.

“I... I don’t like the drawing. C-could you, uh, h-” she seems to choke on her words, swallowing hard and pressing her lips together before blurting a fast string of words. “Couldyoupleasehelpmefixit?”

She bows her head to him, eyes squeezed shut, and Nathanael gapes up at her from his seat on the floor.

“I-” Nathanael swallows, taking the time in which his mind blanks to dissect her words.

Did she want to change? Was she asking for _his_ help?

“Chloé, I’d…”

 

“Couldyoupleasehelpmefixit?”

The words leave her mouth in a flurry, the syllables tripping over themselves.

She closes her eyes and bows her head slightly, not particularly inclined to see Nathanael’s reaction. She’s scared, she’s nervous, and-

And then time seems to slow down, the thrumming of her heartbeat sounding slowly in her ears. And in this time, she thinks.

 _What a horrible thing it is, to be able to think when you’re nervous,_ is the first thing that pops into her mind. And then she starts to ‘disaster plan’, as she calls it.

The one glimpse she gets of Nathanael (she peeked, okay? She’s not a patient person) tells her that he got her meaning. Last time, he’d offered to be her friend if she changed, and now she had asked for her help in doing so. She ran through several scenarios, plotting them out in her head.

_First option is he agrees, and the results are good. We become friends, we maybe even start dating and everything is okay._

_Highly unlikely._ Her brain overrules whatever wisp of hope she might’ve had, and she moves on to the next option.

_He agrees, but results are horrible._

_That would be_ bad, her inner voice suggests. _Maybe he’d get tired of you, and then spread rumors about stuff that he learned about you, and_ -

 _Shut up!_ Chloé shrieks at herself. She doesn’t need this negativity, she needs to keep her hopes up, she has to-

_What if he disagrees? What if he rejects you and tells everyone about what you asked for? And it’s probably obvious to him you like him. He’ll tell everyone about it, and-_

“Okay.”

Chloé snaps out of her daze, unwrinkling her nose. (She doesn’t even remember how it _got_ wrinkled. What was she doing?)

“I- you said okay?”

“I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d like to be your friend when you changed,” Nathanael says. “And I’d like to be your friend, so yeah. Yeah, I’ll help you.”

Chloé can feel heat rise to her face, but stubbornly ignores it. Some snobbish remark is on the tip of her tongue, ready to be spoken- but then she pulls it back, resorting to a quiet but heartfelt ‘thank you’.

Nathanael blinks in surprise, stammering out a reply, and Chloé takes a seat next to him.

“So,” she asks. “How do I start?”

 

By the time Marinette has physically and emotionally recovered from her talk, she’s feeling better and so much more ready to face the rest of the day.

“I’m glad you had that talk with Adrien,” Tikki says softly. “You resolved things by yourself! I’m very proud of you.”

“Thanks, Tikki.” Marinette brings her kwami to her cheek for a quick cuddle, grabbing her bag and a croissant before opening her trapdoor. “I’m glad I had that talk, too. I mean, I wasn’t expecting to cry or argue or anything, but it was… relieving.”

She’s about to leave, Tikki already in her purse, when a black blobby shape zooms in front of her.

“P- _Plagg?_ ” Marinette squeaks. “I thought you left with Adrien! Why are you still here?”

Plagg’s slitted eyes peer at her curiously. “There was food here, little lady. And besides. I trust you to get me back to him.”

“Plagg!” Tikki zooms out of the purse in an angry red blur, stopping dangerously close to Plagg. “Would you for once in your life stop being _so reckless_? Sometimes I think you pass this onto your kits. Just-”

The god is cut short when Marinette grabs the two out of the air, shoving them into her purse. It’s a snug fit, but she snaps the bag shut just in time to hide them from her mother, who looks at her worriedly.

“Dear, you all right? I heard-”

“Everything’s fine, Mom!” Marinette blurts out, smiling and pecking her on the cheek. “I- ah, gotta go to school now! Sorry, running late! See you later!”

Marinette dashes out of the bakery, running towards the school. Her words had an element of truth to them- she only had a few minutes left before the bell rang, and she had no desire to be late to her English class.

 

Adrien raises his hand, affirming his presence when the teacher calls his name. Then, Chloé’s name is called, and he waits for the answer, a routine thing to hear, but no one answers. Adrien turns around in confusion, looking at all the students present. Except for her, there’s no one else- _Nathanael_. The two are suspiciously missing, not ones to usually miss class. The teacher frowns and marks them as absent, moving on. He’s caught up in his thoughts, wondering what might have happened, and then a blue-gray-pink-white blur rushes past him, slipping into a seat just as his teacher calls out a loud “Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

The teacher frowns at her, but says nothing. The rest of roll call occurs without too much of a hitch. Nathanael does appear eventually (marked late) but Chloé never appears.

_Strange._

“Students, please separate back into your presentation groups. I will be handing back your grades, as well as an assignment to work on _in those groups._ ”

Adrien scoots up a table, switching spots with Marinette to sit next to Alya.

“Sorry about before,” he whispers lowly while waiting for the teacher to come over to them. “I was-”

“Save it, Agreste,” Alya says gently. “I get it. And- I’m sorry for pushing you.”

Adrien smiles gratefully at her, feeling a little more at ease. This feeling is quickly halted to a stop when his phone buzzes- and apparently Alya and Marinette’s, too, judging by their reactions. He reaches into his bag to discreetly check whatever notification pops up, and nearly groans out loud. Alya, however, does not have that restraint.

“Akuma? Really?” The girl hisses. She bites her lip, tapping her foot against the ground before facing him decisively. “Hey, Adrien?”

“Uh… yes?” He answers hesitantly.

“I’m going to call in that favor right now. I need you to get me out of this class. I’m running on thin ice with Madame, so I can’t do it myself.”

Adrien furrows his brows at her. “What for?”

“Been sneaking out of class a but too much, arriving late, you know?” Alya has the grace to look embarrassed.

“No,” Adrien says. “Why do you need to get out?”

Alya blanches, then giggles nervously. “I. Um, gotta record that fight! Yeah. My followers on the Ladyblog haven’t seen a personally done video in a while.”

Adrien shoots her a strange look, but accepts. He rifles through his bag looking for something to help him, but instead notices the distinct lack of a certain black kwami. He goes rigid, mind scrambling to recall where he last had Plagg, _when_ he last had Plagg, and can only think  of one place: Marinette’s.

He glances over at Marinette- at his partner, at Ladybug- eyes questioning. She discreetly taps her purse, nodding.

“Ah,” the teacher sighs. “Wait here. I need to make more copies of the worksheet.”

“Perfect,”  Alya whispers. “The akuma was heading in this direction, right? If we leave, the akuma attack on the school should start before the teacher notices that we’re gone and then everything will go on lockdown.”

Adrien grins, getting up from his seat once the teacher leaves.

“Marinette and I will make a diversion,” he murmurs. “You go.”

Adrien walks over to Marinette, offering her a hand. “C’mon, Princess. Let’s go out.”

The entire class lets out a soft _ooh._

“Finally got your head on right, Agreste?” Alix calls. “It’s about time. We’ll cover for your delinquency today. Enjoy your date.”

And then Marinette pulls him into an unexpected hug, and he stands there slightly awkwardly before he hears the soft, distinct sound of a kwami phasing into something and smiles.

The two walk out of the classroom, Alya having already escaped and long gone.

“Good luck,” Marinette says.

Adrien blinks in surprise. “W-what?”

The girl looks away in frustration, huffing. “I don’t know. Something just gave me a… feeling. That you’d need luck.”

“I don’t need it when I’m with you,”  he replies simply.

“But what if you’re not?”

The question hangs in the air like a bomb, the two freezing as they stare at each other. Adrien opens his mouth, closes it, and opens it again.

“Forget it,” Marinette says, waving a hand in dismissal. “Just- be careful.”

The two words are almost inaudible, Marinette having already turned away. Adrien stands alone in the hallway, silent. After a few seconds, he turns away. He’d think about Marinette’s words later. Right now, he had an akuma to fight.

 

Chloe’s fingers are trembling as she grips her phone in her hands, hiding inside a toilet stall. Nathanael’s phone number, seemingly so innocent, is there, just sitting there in her contacts. She was _very_ late to class, much to Pollen’s disapproval, but she knew English enough to miss a class. Besides, she doubts that she could learn  anything while she was this… high strung, anyway.

She exits the app to text Adrien, but her fingers won’t work, so she calls him instead. Three rings in, he picks up.

“Chlo? You never call me; what’s up? Are you okay?” Adrien’s voice is panicky and slightly impatient when he speaks, and so Chloé is quick to reassure him.

“Adrien, everything’s okay. I just- me and Nathanael have gotten somewhere!” She can’t help the upward lilt her voice rises to, excitement thrumming a loud hum in her ears.

“What?” Adrien asks disbelievingly. “You- Chloé, I can’t believe-”

“I _know_ skipped class, but you always leave randomly too!” She helpfully ignores the fact that she does the same.

 _I’m a hero_ , she reasons. _Adrien isn’t. I’m… excused; it doesn’t count for me!_

“That’s not what I mean, Chloé,” Adrien snaps.

_He always snaps when he’s angry or stressed or nervous or-_

“There’s an akuma!”

Chloe freezes, phone dangling loosely from limp hands. She’s about to respond, about to say anything when a crackling sound resounds throughout the school and everything goes pitch dark.

“Wh-what just happened?” She whispers, whipping around to face Pollen- or at least, where she thinks Pollen is.

“Shit!” And now Chloé is actually scared. Adrien doesn’t curse- doesn’t like to- so now… she hates to imagine what kind of akuma would cause him to do so.

“I gotta go, Chlo. I’ll- I’ll to you another time, okay?”

“O-Okay,” Chloé says, but the line is already dead.

She’s beyond scared- she’s terrified, honest to god terrified. But she’s been given the gift of the Miraculous, and she has to use it.

 _Besides_ , she thinks. _If I’m scared, all the non-heroes must be even_ more _scared. I- I gotta fight. Gotta protect them. ...right?_

Chloe stares into the darkness, conflicting emotions warring inside of her. But she knew what to do- or rather, what she had to do.

“Pollen, fuzz up!”

  


The brief yellow glow that illuminates the area for one short second does absolutely nothing  to help her. Besides, she had closed her eyes against the blinding light. She doesn’t have Chat or Rena Rouge’s night vision, or Ladybug’s lucky charm (though even she by now knows it’d be incredibly dumb to use it so early) to help her.

Ceratina settles for tiptoeing quietly through the school, but some sort of thing had been placed over the windows, and the lights were all out. She was really and truly blind.

Swallowing nervously, she tries to calm her shaking hands as to not drop her trompo. The top opens, and the first person she sees on her call list is Ladybug. She presses the call button, breathing a huge sigh of relief once the heroine’s face pops up on her screen.

“Ladybug,” she breathes. “You have no idea how good it is to see you.”

“Ceratina?” Ladybug asks. “You- your screen is totally dark. What happened, are you okay?”

“I’m, uh… stuck inside the school,” she says, quickly thinking of a lie. “I- I, um, heard about the akuma coming and thought I’d evacuate the school, but then I got trapped inside.”

Ladybug’s expression darkens. “Be careful. Rena and I tried to get into the school, but all exits are sealed. Whoever did this is dangerous.”

“You and Rena?” Ceratina echoes. “Where’s Chat?”

“Also stuck in the school,” Ladybug reports grimly. “See if you can find him; it’ll be safer for the both of you.”

Ceratina nods before remembering Ladybug couldn’t see her, and voices her assent.

Using the light from the screen on her trompo, she navigates her way through the hallway. But then footsteps sound behind her, heels clicking on the floor, and a voice booms out from behind her.

“Who dares shine _light_ in my domain?”

Ceratina tenses, fighting the urge to turn around. She straightens up, putting on a brave facade, and tries to keep her voice steady when she speaks.

“Who- who are you?”

A face appears in front of her, eerily illuminated by her trompo.

“I am the dark, the shadows, the thing it seems you fear,” he says. “And you, little bug, are Ceratina.”

Screeching, Ceratina smacks him in the face and turns tail, fleeing. She dashed through the halls randomly until she somehow reaches  an open classroom door, not slamming it shut in fear of being heard. She turns off the video call, leaving herself in darkness.

 _It’s better this way_ , she tries to convince herself. _This way, you won’t be detected and he can’t find you, whoever he is._

There was no doubt that he was scary. He had twin marks running down his face, like scars, kind of, and this creepy, dark aura. She wasn’t sure what his goal was- definitely something to do with darkness.

She turns around to find a desk or chair to sit on, eyes squinting in a feeble attempt at sight. She tiptoes around the classroom, nearly tripping on a step- and comes face to face with neon green eyes.

 

Before she can scream, a leathery clawed hand slams over her mouth. She fights against the person, arms clinging wildly, trying to escape, until she realizes that the person isn’t trying to capture or harm her in any way.

“Sorry about the scare, Tina,” a voice whispers, and she immediately recognizes it as that of Chat’s.

Relaxing immediately, she feels the hand drop away from her mouth and smiles in the general direction where the sound had come from.

“Have any idea about what’s going on?” She asks.

Chat makes a frustrated noise.

“No,” he responds truthfully. “I got nothing on him. I was trying to get out, but this school is surprisingly hard to navigate in the dark, and I can’t find an exterior classroom window to Cataclysm. It’s difficult, even with my night vision. I can’t imagine what it would be like for you.”

“Oh-“ A finger smushes over her lips, shushing her. She’s about to swat him away, chiding him for ruining her lipstick, but then she hears it as well.

Loud tapping rings clearly as the akuma walks without fear, knowing that he’s in control.

“Funny that the heroes are gone,” he singsongs loudly, and both of the heroes know that it’s bait. “Wonder what might happen if I discovered a room full of hapless students. Would be a shame, if they got hurt.”

“Let me handle this,” Chat advises. “I got night vision. Stay here, and try not to make any noise.”

Ceratina nods, straining her ears and eyes in vain. She can’t hear or see anything important, and she’s practically useless in this situation. After a while, she hears talking, and scoots closer to the door in order to hear better.

 

“Oh, looks like that cat’s finally shown up,” The akuma says. “Sorry, but I’m going to have to take your miraculous. Hawkmoth said so, and orders are orders.”

“What do you even want?” Chat asks nonchalantly. “I’m just visiting this lovely school.”

“How can you? You can’t even see anything,” He jeers.

 _Don’t tell him you can see_ , Ceratina begs internally. _Don’t let him know about your advantage. It’ll be useful if we’re going to have to fight him._

“Fair enough,” Chat allows. “But who are you, and what is your purpose?”

“Where’s your buggy friend?” The akuma asks. “I want her to be here when this happens.”

Ceratina remains silent, holding her breath.

“Not here,” is Chat’s response.

“Hmph,” The akuma huffs. “Anyway. Who I am doesn’t matter to you. But I am here to show you how much better the dark is. The dark isn’t just darkness; it’s real. It’s a thing, and it’s more powerful than light. Light shows all your insecurities. Light is dangerous. And this school is perfect for showing everyone how right I am.”

Ceratina tunes out halfway through, uneasy when she realizes how true his words are. In the light people can see her mistakes, and all her father's money can’t hide it. In the light, she isn’t as strong as she’d like to be. In the light, she’s just… normal. Weak.

She hides in the corner of the classroom, where she is shielded from sight, and dials Ladybug on her trompo. Never mind all her fears; she’s got information, and she has to share it before-

“I sense _light_ in my domain,” The akuma hisses. “Where is that pesky bug? She will _pay_.”

Ceratina clutches her trompo against her chest, masking the light. But it doesn’t stop the akuma from coming closer. She can hear his footsteps, feel the apprehension and fear weaving a suffocating net around her, feel- feel a solid thing around her. She screams, not bothering to conceal her presence any longer, thrashing against the strangely thick air, making her movements sluggish. She hears Chat hiss, hears the akuma cackle, hears herself screaming, screaming, screaming, begging to be free.

“Oh, little bug,” The akuma croons, right as the darkness tightens on her. “Join me in the darkness.”

 

Ladybug paces anxiously on the school rooftop, and Rena watched her with vague interest from her spot on the ground.

“Lady, for the last time,” Rena says. “Pacing doesn’t help. You’ll only wear yourself out.”

Ladybug looks at her, dark eyes unreadable. “I-”

Her yo-yo rings, and both of their eyes immediately snap to it. Ladybug hurries over, crouching next to Rena so that both of them can see the screen. Not that it helps- it’s dark as ever, and so they can only try to listen.

“I sense _light_ in my domain,” they hear someone hiss. The akuma, probably. “Where is that pesky bug? She will _pay_.”

And then someone screams, thudding noises and ragged breathing blasting through the yo-yo. Rena feels instinctive fear running through her at the sound, flinching and huddling against Ladybug.

“I’m going in. I- I gotta do something.” Ladybug looks at Rena with wild eyes, but her posture is steady and strong. “Don’t stop me.”

“Lady!” Rena shrieks, reaching out a hand to stop her.

But it’s not her voice that halts Ladybug in her tracks, it’s Chat Noir’s.

“Ladybug, don’t go!”

The heroine stops in her tracks, gazing at her yo-yo.

“I’ve got a plan. Just- just wait, okay?” Chat’s voice trickles out of the yo-yo, soft and hesitant but urgent.

“Was that Ceratina?” Ladybug frets shrilly. “What happened? Is she okay?”

“Trapped,” Chat Noir replies grimly. “But I think I’ve got some sort of a plan.

“The akuma is focused on darkness,” he says. “And he said that the darkness was a thing. So if I use my Cataclysm on the darkness, maybe I can get rid of it.”

“How do you know the darkness is a real solid thing?” Rena asks.

“It feels… thick,” is the crackly reply. “Also, it’s what trapped Ceratina, so I think I’m right.”

“What if you guess wrong?” Ladybug asks anxiously. “I- I don’t know, Chat. This plan seems really risky.”

“If I’m wrong I’ll Cataclysm the school, and you guys can come in to help.”

“You’ll hurt the students, and then the darkness might spread!” Ladybug protests.

“Let him,” Rena advises. “I… I think he’s onto something.”

Ladybug hisses a worried noise of assent, and then the call ends. A few seconds later, light floods through the school, and Ladybug slams through a window with her yo-yo. The two sail through the hole, landing gingerly among shards of broken glass.

“Evacuate the students,” Rena says. “I’ll find Tina and Chat and maybe even the akuma too, if I’m lucky. Or unlucky, depending on how you see it.”

“What?” Ladybug snaps. “You’re asking me to- I can’t- you expect me to sit around and-”

“Lady, you’re better for protecting people,” Rena argues. “Besides, what if the lights go out again? You’ll be stranded. I have night vision.”

“I’m beginning to hate you smart you are,” Ladybug grumbles, but waves her hand in signal for Rena to leave. “Fine. Go.”

Rena grins at the heroine, saluting her. Then, she dashes out into the hallway before skidding to a halt. She has absolutely no clue where Chat or Ceratina are, and running would not only tire her out, but also be very inefficient.

Rena frowns, considering a couple of options, before grabbing her flute and uttering “ _shift_ ” while imagining a flame. The flute explodes in a puff of orange smoke, turning into something reminiscent of a witch’s broom when the smoke dissipates. Fire replaces what would be broom bristles, helping it float, and she hops on.

She zooms through the halls, hoping she’d have no need for illusions, as she couldn’t really use them right now. Rena nudges the broomstick to the right, almost crashing as she rounds a corner, but manages to stay upright. She narrows her eyes as she concentrates, willing herself to go faster, and almost slams straight in to a black figure when they burst out of a classroom.

Rena sucks in a breath, turning upwards sharply and grabbing the broom and swinging off of it as she ascends. The broom reverts to its normal flute-like state and Rena falls, landing in a crouch with her flute pointed defensively out in front of her.

“Rena!” They say, and she gets up into a more relaxed pose when she recognizes Chat Noir. “Hey, thank god you’re here! Where’s Ladybug?”

“Evacuating,” she replies. “What’s the situation?”

“Cataclysm-ed the darkness, which somehow worked, and freed Ceratina, then the akuma ran away because of the light, and then made sure Ceratina was okay before going out to try and find you, and then here we are,” Chat summarizes. “Do you have a plan?”

“Uh, find the akuma, and de-akumatize him?” Rena suggests. “What else do you expect me to do?”

Chat facepalms behind her as she walks into the room to see Ceratina.

“Hey, uh, you okay?” she asks quietly.

“Sure,” Ceratina replies shortly. “I- sure. Yeah. I’m fine.”

Rena purses her lips, considering her clearly shaken teammate.

“ _Flare_ ,” she commands, and several spheres of orange smoky light appear.

She orders two of them to stay by Ceratina, hovering over the bee heroine’s shoulders. Ceratina stares at her in awe, mouth opening and closing.

“I, uh- wow. Thanks.”

“No problem,” Rena says, dismissing the other orbs with a wave of her hand to try and find the akuma. “So, I just sent those guys to try and find the akuma. Ceratina, if you could stay behind with me to y’know, protect me and all that, I’d be grateful. Chat, you could help Ladybug or go find the akuma, just… do whatever you like.”

Chat sniffles dramatically, splaying a hand against his chest. “Okay, I see where I stand here. I’ll just go away then. Goodbye!”

He whirls out of the door, letting out one last wail, and Rena chuckles before settling against a wall and closing her eyes. Seeing the views of all four moving orbs at once is distorting at best, and devastatingly debilitating at worst.

“You… really need me?” Ceratina asks hesitantly.

“Uh, yeah,” Rena says, cracking an eye open. Translucent orange overlay of her little orbs is placed on top of her regular vision, making her dizzy, and she immediately closes her eyes again. “I can’t do anything. I’m practically useless.”

Her necklace chooses that moment to beep, signalling that one fragment is fading, and she groans. “You and I don’t have time limits like Lady and Chat do, but using too much power can still drain the kwamis, you know? So I need you to stay here and make sure no one gets the better of me while I’m like this.”

“Oh,” Ceratina says quietly. “I, uh, thanks?”

“No proble-” Rena stiffens, raising a finger in warning. “Shush for a second.”

She tries to focus on the view from one of her orbs, seeing some action. A red blur zooms by, kicking down a black blob, as a group of children huddle in the corner of a hallway. Rena immediately scans the rest of the scene, noting the classroom number.

“Ah, Ceratina?” She asks, voice soft as she tries not to break her concentration. “Call Chat and tell him to go to room 326. That’s where the akuma is.”

She tries to will the three other orbs into going to 326 as well, but they’re too far away, so she breaks her connection with a reluctant sigh and stands up, still closing her eyes.

“Call done,” Ceratina interrupts, and Rena waves her hands out in front of her blindly before Ceratina catches them. “Uh, you okay?”

“I want to keep connection with this one just until Chat comes so I can make sure Ladybug’s safe,” Rena replies distractedly, brain whirring as she tries to keep up with the fight being displayed in her head. “And I realize this might not be the safest, but could you lead me? You know where room 326 is, right?”

“Sure,” Ceratina agrees. “So, okay. Um- here we go.”

Rena feels herself being pulled along at a jogging pace, feet tripping as she’s unused to seeing a different place and running at the same time, but she soon falls into a steady rhythm. She’s not really surprised to find that she trusts Ceratina, despite the fact that they’ve only been working together for half a year, at most. She knows that the bee heroine means well, that they _all_ mean well- they’re fighting a supervillain, for goodness sakes- and so finds it surprising when all of a sudden they stop, and her hand is released with a cry.

A thud sounds clearly on the floor, and the vision Rena has is startling, to say the least. Through her orange orb, she sees Ceratina lying down on the floor, tendrils of darkness weaving a straitjacket around her, stretching to cover her body until she’s mummified. A horrified Nathanael crouches behind her, hands hovering over the thrashing heroine, and Rena wonders why her orb would show her such a thing, until it all comes crashing down on her and she realizes-

_Oh no. Oh, hell no._

She hurriedly breaks connection, seeing the orange smoke wisp away when she opens her eyes to see the same scene she had before. Ladybug stands angrily in front of the still form of the captured heroine, yo-yo whizzing angrily as it spins in a shield. The akuma is solely focused on Ladybug, a cackle bubbling from his lips as he throws his head back in maniacal laughter.

Chat Noir appears on the opposite end of the hallway, and the two of them make eye contact, agreeing silently on what to do. Chat holds up three fingers, and then two- and then his ring beeps shrilly, attracting the attention of the akuma. He grimaces, then whips behind the corner he appeared from and disappears.

The akuma turns, but Ladybug recaptures his attention with a provoking hit to the shoulder and a loud clearing of her throat.

“Why, you pesky bug,” the akuma growls. “Do you want me to bring back the darkness? Last I checked, neither ladybugs nor bees could see in the dark.”

Ceratina begins to thrash again in her cocoon, clearly having heard what the akuma said. Seeing this, the akuma grins and begins to summon darkness to him, the windows first being blocked off. Then, the lights snap off with an electrical hiss one by one, plunging the room into growing darkness.

Ladybug shrinks back as the akuma stalks towards her, and it’s clear that they both know who has the power here. The last light snaps off, leaving everyone in total darkness. It takes Rena a while for her eyes to adjust, but then her night vision kicks in, leaving everything as clear as it would be if the lights were on. The akuma raises a hand swirling with darkness, about to shoot it at Ladybug.

“Poor little ladybug,” the akuma croons. “I think-”

Rena snaps at this, not able to wait for Chat any longer. Discarding her flute on the floor with a clatter, she rushes towards the akuma, jumping into a flying kick that knocks the akuma onto the floor.

“Sucks for you,” she spits, landing on the floor with a huff. “I’m nocturnal, bitch!”

  


Ladybug crouches over the knocked-out akuma, inspecting him and finally finding a watch. The lights had turned back on after the hit, presumably because the akuma had lost connection with his powers after being hit like that.

Smashing the watch on the floor, Ladybug captures the akuma and purifies it. The man-turned-akuma wakes up, and Chat shows up to escort him outside, along with explaining what happened.

Ladybug turns to face Rena, eyes dark and serious. “Thank you, Rena Rouge. You saved me today.”

The stating of her full hero title shocks her, but she manages to stammer out a weak ‘you’re welcome’.

Ladybug purses her lips, still staring at Rena, before pulling her into a rare hug. Ladybug is the first to pull back, and Rena stares at Ladybug in shock, not quite believing what had happened.

“I- Lady, are you alright?”

“Thanks to you,” she replies, and hesitates before continuing. “Look, I didn’t use my lucky charm, but I should still get back to class. Goodbye.”

Ladybug walks away, and Rena continues to stare at the place where Ladybug stood until Ceratina breaks her trance with a quiet thanks and farewell.

Rena turns away after waving back, lost in thought.

 

She’s glad school is cancelled for the rest of the day, seeing as she wouldn’t be able to focus. But overall? It’s been a good day. Things are nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY WOW THAT'S THE LAST CHAPTER
> 
>  
> 
> Of course it's not like the _last _last chapter; there's still an epilogue, but it's literally three paragraphs long, so I'm counting this as the non-official last chapter. I really really hope you enjoyed this!!__
> 
>  
> 
> __  
> _(Also, this was a longer chapter, so I hope it made up for all the super short ones I gave you)_  
> 


	12. Epilogue

If you’re going to ask Marinette about Nathanael at the end of lycée, she will smile and say that things haven’t worked out as planned for him yet, but he’s happy, so therefore she’s happy for him. If you asked him what he thought of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, he will say that things have worked out well for her, and that one of her dreams is complete.

If you are to greet Chloé with a smile and a ‘good morning’, much like Nathanael will, you’ll get a cheerful response along with a small blush (if you are said boy.)

 

For inside a room in Le Grand Paris, there will hang a promise. The promise will be of a world where a girl sits happy and smiles brightly at the viewer, a drawing to show a change for the better.

And if you are to walk along the Ponts de Arts for a stroll later that day, you might see a lock with A.A and MDC carved into it.

 

Well, of course, all of these things are only hypothetical, since no one can tell the future. But one can hope, and pray that they’re lucky. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAA THAT'S IT MY FIRST ML FIC IS DONE AND COMPLETED! This entire Big Bang was a wild ride and I can't count how many extensions I asked for, but here it is!! It's like my child now and I'm very proud of it. As always, kudos and comments are treasured from the bottom of my heart!!
> 
> And, again: go send some love to my responder (kaethemonster on tumblr) who is ABSOLUTELY wonderful, and just general thanks and love to my awesome betas, drumrockstar21 and felinedragonslayer!! There are links below of Kae's amazing art, so if you could give them some likes or reblogs that would be great :D
> 
> http://kaethemonster.tumblr.com/private/168252590959/tumblr_p0jdb1BpDz1uw6g2z  
> http://kaethemonster.tumblr.com/private/168252612319/tumblr_p0jdognp7i1uw6g2z  
> http://kaethemonster.tumblr.com/private/168252616634/tumblr_p0jdpzBMw71uw6g2z  
> http://kaethemonster.tumblr.com/private/168252619329/tumblr_p0jfm00rzh1uw6g2z
> 
> Thank you all so much once again for reading, and have a good day!! <3  
> ~Paladin


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